Abolition of Corporal Punishment Act, 1997

{{short description|South African law banning corporal punishment}}

{{Infobox legislation

| short_title = Abolition of Corporal Punishment Act, 1997

| long_title = Act to provide for the abolishment of corporal punishment authorised in legislation; and to provide for matters connected therewith.

| citation = Act No. 33 of 1997

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| enacted_by = Parliament of South Africa

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| date_assented = 28 August 1997

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| date_commenced = 5 September 1997

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| status = spent

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The Abolition of Corporal Punishment Act, 1997 (Act No. 33 of 1997) is an act of the Parliament of South Africa that abolished judicial corporal punishment.{{cite web |url=http://www.corpun.com/jcpza12.htm |title=Section 13: The abolition of JCP |work=Judicial Corporal Punishment in South Africa |publisher=World Corporal Punishment Research |year=2005 |accessdate=1 November 2011}} It followed the Constitutional Court's 1995 decision in the case of S v Williams and Others that caning of juveniles was unconstitutional. Although the ruling in S v Williams was limited to the corporal punishment of males under the age of 21, Justice Langa mentioned in dicta that there was a consensus that corporal punishment of adults was also unconstitutional.{{cite SAFLII |litigants=S v Williams and Others |court=ZACC |year=1995 |num=6 |pinpoint=para. 10 |parallelcite=1995 (3) SA 632, 1995 (7) BCLR 861 |date=9 June 1995 |courtname=auto}}

The act contains two substantive sections. The first provides that "any law which authorises corporal punishment by a court of law, including a court of traditional leaders," is repealed to the extent that it authorises such a punishment. The second makes specific textual amendments various statutes, including the Black Administration Act, the Magistrates' Courts Act and the Criminal Procedure Act, to remove references to corporal punishment.