The court's ruling invalidated section 277(1)(a) of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977, which had provided for use of the death penalty, along with any similar provisions in any other law in force in South Africa.

[2] Delivered on 6 June, this was the newly established court's "first politically important and publicly controversial holding.

The idea of the constitutional state presupposes a system whose operation can be rationally tested against or in terms of the law.

"[9] Although it was widely believed that a majority of the population favoured retention of the death penalty, the court affirmed its commitment to its duties as an independent arbiter of the Constitution.

[10] It would not act merely as a vector for public opinion: The question before us, however, is not what the majority of South Africans believe a proper sentence for murder should be.