Where there is a right there is a remedy

The granting of a full pardon by the State President to a veteran pensioner entitled the pensioner to continue receiving payment from the date of the pardon. The Special Pensions Appeal Board was obliged to restore the pension from the date of the pardon. The pensioner could not be deprived of his pension on the grounds that there was no explicit power in the legislation to restore the pension.

The pensioner had been granted a veteran’s pension under the Special Pensions Act. He lost the right to a pension under that law because of a conviction for a criminal offence. He was thereafter granted a full pardon by the State President which meant the reasons for the disqualification had fallen away on the date of the pardon. The right to the pension had not terminated, only the right to receive the pension which was now restored. The pardon did not operate from the date of the original conviction but from the date of the pardon.

This is an important case which decided what the effect of a presidential pardon is. The case is Masemola v Special Pensions Appeal Board and Another.