Criminal Law Amendment Act No 8 commences

On 4 March 1953, the Criminal Law Amendment Act No 8 commenced. This act made civil disobedience punishable by a three-year gaol (prison) sentence, and prohibited the offer or acceptance of financial or other assistance for any organized resistance against the laws of the Union. In addition, the Act stated that anyone accompanying a person found guilty of offences committed while "protest[ing], or in support of any campaign for the repeal or modification of any law," would also be presumed guilty and would have the burden of proving his or her innocence. It also effectively prevented an editor from publishing a report of an incident deemed to have incited people to break the law. This act was passed shortly after the countrywide '1952 Defiance Campaign', which was organised in protest against repression and apartheid laws.  Link: A PDF version of this act has been scanned and included in the online DISA archive to view it visit, disa.ukzn.ac.za