FYI - Arrested For Outstanding Fines?

[Psypher13]

Question:
Do police have the right to arrest me at a roadblock if I have any unpaid speeding fines? What are my rights?
Answer:
Police officials conducting a roadblock may only legally arrest you for an unpaid speeding / traffic fine if a valid warrant of arrest has been issued against you. A warrant of arrest is normally issued if you have failed to appear in court following the issuing and service of a summons against you.
In terms of Section 39 of the Criminal Procedure Act you have the right to be informed of the reason or cause of your arrest and you have the right to demand a copy of the warrant of arrest whilst at the roadblock.
There is no legal provision that you have the right to receive the original warrant as has been suggested by various sources. The police will thereafter have the right to detain you in custody until you are lawfully discharged or released. Should you demand to receive a copy of the warrant and fail to receive it, but should you still be unlawfully detained or arrested by the police you will have the right to bring civil action against the police where you may seek compensation for an unlawful arrest / detention.

 

[Mr Green]

Howzit

I received 1 of those fines with no amount on it last month,it didn't have a court date on it so I just ignored it,should I be worried if I see a roadblock?

 

[Psypher13]

Howzit

I received 1 of those fines with no amount on it last month,it didn't have a court date on it so I just ignored it,should I be worried if I see a roadblock?

Nope
Notthing to be worried about from my point
Was it registered mail or hand delivered

regardless - there is an error on the fine and will be null in void

 

[Xack]

Question:
Do police have the right to arrest me at a roadblock if I have any unpaid speeding fines? What are my rights?
Answer:
Police officials conducting a roadblock may only legally arrest you for an unpaid speeding / traffic fine if a valid warrant of arrest has been issued against you.

Do they normally have these warrants to arrest you on hand at roadblocks? No. Can they still arrest you? Yes. There's no provision in the CPA that empowers any "normal citizen" to resist arrest no matter how illegal it appears to be, and that's why R7 billion in lawsuit claims have been brought against the police ministry sofar.

This was for the 2011/12 financial year, in the 2012/13 financial year, the cops had to fork out R200 million in claims for 3773 cases.

Do they care? No.

What do you do if these cowboys pull you over and threaten to arrest you, dont resist...call a lawyer(pm me out of your cell will work)

 

[Psypher13]

Question:
Do police have the right to arrest me at a roadblock if I have any unpaid speeding fines? What are my rights?
Answer:
Police officials conducting a roadblock may only legally arrest you for an unpaid speeding / traffic fine if a valid warrant of arrest has been issued against you.

Do they normally have these warrants to arrest you on hand at roadblocks? No. Can they still arrest you? Yes. There's no provision in the CPA that empowers any "normal citizen" to resist arrest no matter how illegal it appears to be, and that's why R7 billion in lawsuit claims have been brought against the police ministry sofar.

This was for the 2011/12 financial year, in the 2012/13 financial year, the cops had to fork out R200 million in claims for 3773 cases.

Do they care? No.

Sad reality
No Matter what laws are in place that empower a citizen
as long as you are a SAPS official you can do as you please regardless.

 

[Dewald Basson]

Howzit

I received 1 of those fines with no amount on it last month,it didn't have a court date on it so I just ignored it,should I be worried if I see a roadblock?

You were either going very fast, in which case there is no fine you have appear in court or they made a mistake.

But you must be serviced a summons which will give you your court date. This is done by hand cause you must sign for and only you can sign for it.

But they can still arrest you like Xack said.

 

[KarshS]

Surely they can print a warrant on the spot? This happened in Midrand. Passengers where also asked for ID's and were checked.

I know this as it happened to a friend

 

[Mr Green]

Howzit

I received 1 of those fines with no amount on it last month,it didn't have a court date on it so I just ignored it,should I be worried if I see a roadblock?

You were either going very fast, in which case there is no fine you have appear in court or they made a mistake.

But you must be serviced a summons which will give you your court date. This is done by hand cause you must sign for and only you can sign for it.

But they can still arrest you like Xack said.

Sorry,yes I should have mentioned that,my first fine was the same "type" and I had to appear in court,luckily It got scrapped.One more question,do they ever go to your home to arrest you or is it only in a roadblock?

 

[Psypher13]

Surely they can print a warrant on the spot? This happened in Midrand. Passengers where also asked for ID's and were checked.

I know this as it happened to a friend

Nope they cannot and are not allowed to print on the spot

They can however arrest you based on information obtained stipulating that there is a warrant of arrest out on your name. whereby they have 24 hours to go and print it.

official cannot arrest you for outstanding fines period.
They can however arrest you for offences on hand
ie exceeding speed-limit above 160km, Drunk and Driving, Reckless driving...

You are also entitled to ask the official for there permit that allows them to trap/stop at that spot
if they do not have this - they cannot be stopping/fining..etc
(but this is a chance you take - they could turn around and tell you that you are not obeying and find some fault somewhere)

This was just confirmed now by my AARTO Business Analyst.

 

[Xack]

Surely they can print a warrant on the spot? This happened in Midrand. Passengers where also asked for ID's and were checked.

I know this as it happened to a friend

Nope they cannot and are not allowed to print on the spot

They can however arrest you based on information obtained stipulating that there is a warrant of arrest out on your name. whereby they have 24 hours to go and print it.

official cannot arrest you for outstanding fines period.
They can however arrest you for offences on hand
ie exceeding speed-limit above 160km, Drunk and Driving, Reckless driving...

You are also entitled to ask the official for there permit that allows them to trap/stop at that spot
if they do not have this - they cannot be stopping/fining..etc
(but this is a chance you take - they could turn around and tell you that you are not obeying and find some fault somewhere)

This was just confirmed now by my AARTO Business Analyst.

Now i've been preaching the decriminalizing of Traffic offences by AARTO on this forum and we probably should start a thread stating the facts, now, i've gone through the ACT but dont have much time to start thread, i think you should post something, its a good idea to inform our fellow Fanatics Cartel

 

[Psypher13]

Surely they can print a warrant on the spot? This happened in Midrand. Passengers where also asked for ID's and were checked.

I know this as it happened to a friend

Nope they cannot and are not allowed to print on the spot

They can however arrest you based on information obtained stipulating that there is a warrant of arrest out on your name. whereby they have 24 hours to go and print it.

official cannot arrest you for outstanding fines period.
They can however arrest you for offences on hand
ie exceeding speed-limit above 160km, Drunk and Driving, Reckless driving...

You are also entitled to ask the official for there permit that allows them to trap/stop at that spot
if they do not have this - they cannot be stopping/fining..etc
(but this is a chance you take - they could turn around and tell you that you are not obeying and find some fault somewhere)

This was just confirmed now by my AARTO Business Analyst.

Now i've been preaching the decriminalizing of Traffic offences by AARTO on this forum and we probably should start a thread stating the facts, now, i've gone through the ACT but dont have much time to start thread, i think you should post something, its a good idea to inform our fellow Fanatics Cartel

Yeah
Not a bad idea
Would be good for the fellow Fanatics to know what there rights are.
Let me get all the relevant Information and documented facts together

I know we just Published the 22nd Amendment to the NRTA so will need to consolidate from there as well

:coolShake:

 

[ChefDJ]

Surely they can print a warrant on the spot? This happened in Midrand. Passengers where also asked for ID's and were checked.

I know this as it happened to a friend

A warrant is only valid if issued in a court of law by the presiding officer (judge) or in his chambers with a prosecutor present.

 

[Xack]

Surely they can print a warrant on the spot? This happened in Midrand. Passengers where also asked for ID's and were checked.

I know this as it happened to a friend

A warrant is only valid if issued in a court of law by the presiding officer (judge) or in his chambers with a prosecutor present.

The CPA states that when affecting an arrest on a warrant THE ORIGINAL SIGNED COPY must be handed to the accused at the time of arrest - something the Metro Police fail to do. Their argument is that because they have literally millions of warrants, an electronically printed or facsimile version is sufficient to detain a person. They also act in the belief that where there is a probability of a warrant against a person, that is sufficient cause for the arrest.
.
Wrong...... OP covered this in his original post.