The appellant, a businessman, was charged with contravening the Exchange Control Regulations and defeating the ends of justice after being found in possession of foreign currency at Cape Town International Airport in July 2004. The initial information about his intended travel with foreign currency was received by the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO or Scorpions), which at the time was mandated to investigate serious and organised crime. Although it was common cause that exchange control offences did not fall within the DSO’s statutory mandate, a senior DSO investigator, Mr Haywood, became involved by alerting other law enforcement agencies, attending at the airport, and being present at subsequent bail proceedings. Before pleading to the charges, and on the day his trial was to commence in the regional court, the appellant launched an urgent High Court application seeking a declaratory order that the DSO and Mr Haywood had acted outside their mandate and that the consequences of their conduct were unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid. The High Court dismissed the application, holding that the issues should be dealt with by the trial court. The appellant appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal.