The Law Does Not Concern itself with Trifles

By Garry Hertzberg and Natasha Sonblo of hersalaw.co.za

?A woman from KZN, Sadia, claimed in court that she was imprisoned by her husband’s family, deprived of food, and separated from her minor child. During this ordeal, she was accused of throwing a grocery bag containing cans at her father-in-law, who claimed that the incident caused swelling to his right ankle. Sadia was found guilty by a district magistrate of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to a R5000 fine or five months' imprisonment, suspended for five years.

However, Sadia appealed her conviction to the High Court in Durban. Her lawyers argued that she had no intention of injuring her father-in-law. The Appeal Court Judges agreed, stating that they were not convinced Sadia intended to cause harm. Moreover, the court invoked the legal principle in Latin called "de minimis non curat lex," which means "the law does not concern itself with trifles." This principle is recognised as part of our criminal law and applies when the offence is of such a trifling (trivial) nature that it ought not to have been prosecuted.

Given the trivial nature of the incident, the Appeal Court deemed it appropriate to ignore it entirely, setting aside the conviction and sentence. Sadia's appeal was upheld, and she walked free.

#Trivial #HighCourt #FamilyDispute #DeMinimisNonCuratLex