The petition before us is directed against these clauses in the procedure.
The Petition and the Course of its Hearing
- The petition argues that sections 4a(5) and 5c of the procedure should be repealed, as well as sections 5a(3) and 5b of the procedure, in view of the incompatibility between them and the judgment in the matter Tabqa.
After we held a hearing on the petition, in our decision of May 2, 2024, an order nisi was granted, as follows (hereinafter: The order nisi):
"An order nisi is hereby issued instructing the respondents to give a reason why the procedure of 'presenting an identity card and the obligation to identify yourself before a police officer' should not be amended as follows:
- A. Section 4A(5) of the Procedure will be repealed.
- B. Section 5a(3) of the procedure will be amended to write that 'a police officer shall not detain a person for more than a reasonable period of time necessary to carry out the identification requirement'.
III. Section 5B of the procedure will be repealed or amended in such a way that it will be clarified that the verification of the details is intended to verify the correctness of the certificate and what is stated therein.
- IV. Section 5C of the procedure will be canceled."
- Further to the order on the terms of access, the respondent filed an affidavit of reply, in which it detailed changes it intends to make to the relevant procedural provisions:
(-) With regard to section 4a(5) of the procedure, which establishes, as aforesaid, a reason for the existence of which a police officer may require a person to identify, it was noted that the section will be worded as follows:
The place, time and circumstances raise concerns that an offense has been committed or is about to be committed and there are circumstances that indicate the possible involvement of a person in the incident, as a suspect or as a witness, provided that in order to clarify the matter, it is necessary to ascertain the very existence of an identity card or an item of the details appearing on the identity card.