Treason Flashcards
define treason
a person commits treason if, owing allegiance to the RSA, he unlawfully engages in conduct within RSA with the intention to:
overthrow gov of RSA
coerce gov by violence into any action or inaction
violate, threaten or endanger the existence, independence or security of RSA; or change the constitutional structure of RSA
what are the elements of treason
overt act of treason
allegiance
state
intent
unlawfulness
highlight important considerations in the overt act of treason element
it is a gen rule that treason is committed by an overt act
exception: failing to report an act of treason being committed or about to be committed (legal duty to act)
cannot commit treason in thoughts or words unrelated to deeds
must amount to a physical manifestation of hostile intent
includes a wide variety of acts which can be violent or non-violent
what happened in the case of S v Banda
there was an attempted Coup of Baphutswana; captured the president to persuade him to resign and other parliament members were kidnapped too.
what does the Allegiance element entail
committed by persons who owe allegiance to the state
factors creating allegiance:
citizens
domicile
residence
sworn oath of allegiance
illegal immigrants
International students
what does the state element entail
conduct of the accused must be directed at an entity recognised by international law as a state
describe the intent element (S v Banda)
the case of S v Banda presents circumstances in which hostile intent is said to be present
intent to
unlawfully impair, violate, threaten or endanger the existence, independence or security of state
unlawfully overthrow gov of state
unlawfully change the constitutional structure of the state
unlawfully coerce the gov by violence to do an action or inaction
describe the unlawful element
acts directed at the amendment of the constitution, the replacement for gov or head of state or adoption/abandonment of policies/legislation is not unlawful if carried out in a manner prescribed by constitution
