Judgment No. CCZ 11/15 11 Const. Application No. CCZ 28/11 article does not arise. His right to freely associate with the newspaper and editor in question was in my view properly ‘limited’ by s 182 (1). That limitation, as the respondent correctly contends, related to publication and communication that undermined public interest in the administration of justice - in other words – communication and publication that amounted to a crime under s 182(1) of the Code, and not any other form of communication. It hardly needs mention that no one is above the law. It was not because of their ‘association’ with the appellant, nor in order to discourage any such future ‘association’ that the newspaper and its editor were arrested and charged. They were arrested because they were suspected of having jointly committed a crime with him. The crime in question was created in a law that was properly passed in the interests of public order and for the purpose of protecting the rights or freedom of other persons, a law that, in effect, constituted an acceptable derogation from the right to freedom of association, as provided in s 21 (3) of the old Constitution. It goes without saying, that as long as one associates with others for purposes that do not constitute a violation of the law, one need not fear any arrest. A pertinent consideration with respect to the enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms is the imperative for one to exercise his/her rights to such freedoms in a manner that does not injure or undermine the rights of others. Judges generally are not able to defend themselves against publication of statements like the one in casu, whose effect is to undermine public confidence in, and the authority of, the courts and the judiciary in general. This type of effect is not one that would manifest itself in easily measurable terms, and therefore in my view does not lend itself to the kind of ‘proof’ that the applicant argues should have been demonstrated. This, however, does not detract from the seriousness of the offence.