South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority – looking ahead

15, 16, 21 and 22 July 2020: Africa Criminal Justice Reform (ACJR) will host a series of four one-hour webinars about the National Prosecuting Authority in July 2020 with a particular emphasis on the way forward. An independent prosecution authority, free from political interference, is fundamental to any democracy’s criminal justice system. South Africa created a new National Prosecuting Authority in 1998, which is the linchpin of accountability and for responding to crime in South Africa. No other entity has the original power to prosecute. The appointment and dismissal process of the National Director of Public Prosecution (NDPP) and other senior prosecutors is key to the independence and accountability of its functioning. Performance of the prosecuting authority should be anchored on the rule of law, accountability, public interest and trust. Looking to the future we need to acknowledge what went wrong with the NPA, but also take lessons and see how we can develop solutions relating to law, policy and practice reform. Ultimately, we are seeing a prosecution service that enjoys legitimacy because it is trusted by the public to act in the broad public interest. ACJR will launch a series of infographics at each webinar to stimulate the discussions. The interactive webinars will be facilitated by Lukas Muntingh, Jean Redpath and Kristen Petersen from ACJR.