Judicial immunity, compensation for unlawful detention and the elusive self-executing treaty provision : Claassen v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development 2010 (6) SA 399 (WCC)

Abstract

The issue in Claassen v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, was 'whether a remedy in damages should be extended in a case in which a person is detained unlawfully as a consequence of the negligently made order by a magistrate acting outside the authority of the law'. The Court noted that the Constitutional Court in Zealand had held the minister vicariously liable for the inaction of a court registrar causing the detention of Mr Zealand 'as a sentenced prisoner for some years'. According to the High Court the Claassen case should be distinguished from Zealand in that the magistrate had judicial immunity. The Court held that the common law doctrine of judicial immunity was not contrary to the Bill of Rights.