Minister of Justice v Prince

The Constitutional Court declared that sections of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act and the Medicines and Related Substances Act criminalising the use or possession of cannabis by adults in private for their own personal consumption were unconstitutional and invalid. The decision was grounded in the constitutional right to privacy under section 14 of the Constitution, finding that the criminal prohibition in the private sphere was not justifiable under section 36.

Gareth Prince, a Rastafarian, challenged the constitutionality of criminal provisions prohibiting the use and possession of cannabis. He had previously challenged these provisions on the grounds of religious and cultural rights. The current application focused on the right to privacy, arguing that adults should be permitted to use cannabis in private for personal consumption without criminal sanction.

Whether the criminalisation of the private use and possession of cannabis by an adult for personal consumption violates the constitutional right to privacy.

The Court held that the prohibition on use and possession of cannabis by an adult in a private place for his or her personal consumption was unconstitutional and invalid. Parliament was given 24 months to remedy the defect, with an interim reading-in to decriminalise such conduct pending legislative reform.

The right to privacy under section 14 of the Constitution protects the personal autonomy of adults to use cannabis in private for their own consumption, and a blanket criminal prohibition of such conduct is not a justifiable limitation under section 36.

The Court found that privacy encompasses the right to make choices about intimate personal conduct without state interference. The total prohibition on private adult use of cannabis was disproportionate to legitimate state objectives such as public health and safety. The limitation failed the proportionality test under section 36, particularly because less restrictive means existed to address harms associated with cannabis use without resorting to criminalisation in the private sphere.

The Court noted that the judgment did not extend to the use of cannabis in public or to dealing in cannabis, which remained subject to regulation and criminalisation. The decision left open the question of the appropriate quantity constituting personal use, to be addressed by Parliament.

Prince is a landmark case on the scope of the constitutional right to privacy and the limits of state power to criminalise private conduct. It demonstrates the application of proportionality analysis under section 36 and is essential for understanding privacy jurisprudence, drug policy reform, and the balance between individual autonomy and state regulatory interests in South African constitutional law.

Minister of Justice v Prince 2018 (10) BCLR 1220 (CC) [2018] ZACC 30