Offences Act[1] (the Act), in terms of which the applicant had been convicted of acts of indecency. The effect of those provisions was to set the age of consent to “immoral or indecent acts” between people of the same sex at 19 years, as opposed to 16 years for the same acts between people of the opposite sex.
[2]The applicant had also sought leave to appeal his conviction on the merits, but this Court dismissed that part of the application on the basis that it bore no prospects of success. The issue of the application for leave to appeal against the applicant’s conviction on the merits is therefore not before us.
Parties
[3]The applicant is Izak Andreas Geldenhuys. The first and second respondents are the National Director of Public Prosecutions and the Director of Public Prosecutions, Transvaal respectively. These respondents filed joint papers before this Court. The third respondent is the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, who is responsible for the administration of the impugned legislation and is joined in terms of the Rules of this Court.
Background
[4]Many of the facts included in the application concern the appeal against the applicant’s convictions on the merits and are not relevant for the purposes of the
- ↑ 23 of 1957. These sections have since been repealed. See [26] below.
