S v Jordan
South African legal case / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
S v Jordan and Others is a decision of the Constitutional Court of South Africa which confirmed the constitutionality of statutory prohibitions on brothel-keeping and prostitution. It was handed down on 9 October 2002 with a majority judgment by Justice Sandile Ngcobo.
S v Jordan | |
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Court | Constitutional Court of South Africa |
Full case name | The State v Jordan and Others |
Decided | 9 October 2002 (2002-10-09) |
Docket nos. | CCT 31/01 |
Citation(s) | [2002] ZACC 22; 2002 (6) SA 642; 2002 (11) BCLR 1117 |
Case history | |
Appealed from | S v Jordan and Others 2002 (1) SA 797 (T); 2001 (10) BCLR 1055 (T); 2002 (1) SACR 17 (T) in the High Court of South Africa, Transvaal Provincial Division |
Court membership | |
Judges sitting | Chaskalson CJ, Langa DCJ, Ackermann J, Goldstone J, Kriegler J, Madala J, Ngcobo J, O’Regan J, Sachs J, du Plessis AJ and Skweyiya AJ |
Case opinions | |
Decision by | Ngcobo J (Chaskalson, Kriegler, Madala, du Plessis and Skweyiya concurring) |
Dissent | O'Regan and Sachs JJ (Langa, Ackermann and Goldstone concurring) |
Hearing a challenge to provisions of the Sexual Offences Act, 1957, the court held unanimously that it is constitutional to criminalise brothel-keeping. However, the bench split six-to-five on the constitutionality of section 20(1)(aA) of the Act, which criminalises prostitution. Writing on behalf of the minority, Justices Kate O'Regan and Albie Sachs argued that the prostitution prohibition discriminated indirectly but unfairly against women, while the majority dismissed this view on the grounds that both men and women are barred from conducting sex work.