Boulter judgment postponed again
The delivery of a judgment in an application in which British billionaire Harvey Boulter argued that he should not be charged with murder was postponed once again last Friday.
In what is now the third postponement, Judge Herman Oosthuizen moved the verdict to 9 August because the judgment is not ready yet.
On 17 January, parties made their closing arguments in the Windhoek High Court. The August date is, therefore, seven months after the trial was concluded.
The delay in the settlement of this matter also further delays criminal proceedings against Boulter because that trial cannot continue until a verdict is delivered in this application.
Despite the delays, Oosthuizen is still within the prescribed timeline set out in guidelines by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for the delivery of judgments. According to these guidelines, the judge has eight months to issue a ruling in this type of application. The JSC published these guidelines in December 2009.
"Concern is being expressed with increasing regularity by members of the public and those in the legal profession about what are perceived to be excessive delays by judges. It has therefore become necessary to lay down some guidelines for judges against which complaints against judges can be measured for judgments that have not been delivered,” the JSC said.
‘No evidence’
Boulter filed the application against Prosecutor-General Martha Imalwa, seeking to have his prosecution for murder dropped. He claimed in a statement that there was no reason for him to be prosecuted on, among other things, a murder charge.
According to Boulter, there is no evidence that he shot his farm manager Gerhard van Wyk on purpose on 27 February 2021. He claimed the gun went off during a scuffle when Van Wyk tried to take the 9mm pistol from him.
He therefore demanded that Imalwa's decision to prosecute him on a charge of murder and other charges, in terms of the Arms and Ammunition Act, be reviewed and set aside.
However, Imalwa countered that she came to the decision to prosecute after studying all the evidence contained in the statements and documents, as well as that which came to light in bail proceedings. She further maintained that she acted reasonably in her decision and that there were sufficient facts from which a reasonable person could conclude that Boulter committed the crime of which he was charged.
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In what is now the third postponement, Judge Herman Oosthuizen moved the verdict to 9 August because the judgment is not ready yet.
On 17 January, parties made their closing arguments in the Windhoek High Court. The August date is, therefore, seven months after the trial was concluded.
The delay in the settlement of this matter also further delays criminal proceedings against Boulter because that trial cannot continue until a verdict is delivered in this application.
Despite the delays, Oosthuizen is still within the prescribed timeline set out in guidelines by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for the delivery of judgments. According to these guidelines, the judge has eight months to issue a ruling in this type of application. The JSC published these guidelines in December 2009.
"Concern is being expressed with increasing regularity by members of the public and those in the legal profession about what are perceived to be excessive delays by judges. It has therefore become necessary to lay down some guidelines for judges against which complaints against judges can be measured for judgments that have not been delivered,” the JSC said.
‘No evidence’
Boulter filed the application against Prosecutor-General Martha Imalwa, seeking to have his prosecution for murder dropped. He claimed in a statement that there was no reason for him to be prosecuted on, among other things, a murder charge.
According to Boulter, there is no evidence that he shot his farm manager Gerhard van Wyk on purpose on 27 February 2021. He claimed the gun went off during a scuffle when Van Wyk tried to take the 9mm pistol from him.
He therefore demanded that Imalwa's decision to prosecute him on a charge of murder and other charges, in terms of the Arms and Ammunition Act, be reviewed and set aside.
However, Imalwa countered that she came to the decision to prosecute after studying all the evidence contained in the statements and documents, as well as that which came to light in bail proceedings. She further maintained that she acted reasonably in her decision and that there were sufficient facts from which a reasonable person could conclude that Boulter committed the crime of which he was charged.
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