The State v Walter Bequinot

The appellant, Walter Bequinot, was charged along with others in the Regional Court on multiple counts including robbery. Although he could not be linked to the robbery itself, he had received stolen traveller’s cheques at his pawnbroker’s shop shortly after the robbery. He was convicted under section 37 of the General Law Amendment Act 62 of 1955, which contains a reverse onus requiring an accused to prove reasonable belief that the goods were lawfully obtained. He appealed his conviction to the Witwatersrand Local Division (WLD). During the appeal, the WLD mero motu raised the constitutional validity of section 37 and referred the matter to the Constitutional Court without first deciding the appeal on non-constitutional grounds.

The matter was remitted to the Witwatersrand Local Division of the Supreme Court to be dealt with in accordance with the Constitutional Court’s guidance; the referral was effectively set aside.

The case is significant for clarifying and reinforcing the strict requirements governing referrals of constitutional issues to the Constitutional Court under section 102(1) of the interim Constitution. It affirms the principle that constitutional questions must not be anticipated and should be determined only when necessary and decisive, thereby promoting judicial restraint, procedural fairness, and incremental development of constitutional jurisprudence.