Court Declares AARTO Act Unconstitutional & Invalid.
The Pretoria High Court has declared the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) act, on which the planned demerit system for traffic offences is based, unconstitutional and invalid.
The court delivered its ruling on the constitutionality of the Aarto Act on Thursday.
Judge Annali Basson found in favour of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) and agreed with OUTA’s position that the legislation unlawfully intrudes upon the exclusive executive and legislative competence of the local and provincial governments envisaged in the Constitution, preventing local and provincial governments from regulating their own affairs.
Outa’s Stefanie Fick said they are pleased with the courts decision.
“We believe that AARTO in its current format does nothing to improve road safety, nor does it reduce the scourge of road fatalities in South Africa. We are satisfied that the judgment will be sending government back to the drawing board. This time around, we trust the relevant departments will engage meaningfully with civil society to obtain our input when developing such important policies for the country.”
The court directed the Minister of Transport and the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) to pay Outa’s costs.
