LEGAL VICTORY FOR ACCOUNTABILITY: COURT UPHOLDS RIGHT TO QUESTION POLICE

A landmark judgment handed down by the High Court in Johannesburg has reinforced a crucial constitutional principle that citizens are entitled to record police officers, ask questions, and request explanations provided they do not interfere with official police duties.

In Jacobs v Minister of Police and Others (2021/6576) [2025] ZAGPJHC 722, an incident that took place on 1 March 2019 in Kempton Park, where attorney Mr. Shaun Jacobs encountered a police roadblock set up directly in front of his home. After being permitted to park inside his yard, Jacobs went inside to speak with his wife and then returned to the officers to inquire whether they would consider relocating the roadblock to a nearby unoccupied area. When Jacobs calmly asked the officers for their names, one of them responded aggressively, pushing him in the chest and threatening him with arrest unless he returned to his home.

Unfazed, Jacobs retrieved his phone and began recording the roadblock, upon noticing this, the officers arrested Jacobs on a charge of crimen injuria. He was detained for approximately 26 hours. Although the defamation claim related to the crimen injuria charge was dismissed, the court ruled in Jacobs’ favour on the core matter of unlawful arrest and detention, awarding him R250,000 in damages R150,000 for the unlawful arrest and R100,000 for the detention.

Judge Twala emphasized that citizens are fully entitled to engage with police officers within lawful limits. The judgment made clear that asking questions, seeking information, or filming police officers in public spaces is not, in itself, unlawful. These actions are protected rights, so long as they do not obstruct or interfere with the officers’ performance of their duties. Importantly, the court held that such conduct by the police where peaceful inquiry or recording leads to intimidation or arrest is unlawful and subject to civil claims.