Judgment No. CCZ 13/2015 14 Const. Application No. CCZ 56/13 “The right, therefore, recognises that, with the passage of time, subjection to a criminal charge gives rise to restrictions on liberty, inconveniences, social stigma and pressures detrimental to the mental and physical health of the individual.” [38] A court may quite properly infer or presume prejudice, where such is not proven - In re Mlambo (supra) at p 352F-G. In the Canadian case of R v Askov [1990], 2 S.C.R 1199, 1232, CORY J remarked that there is a:“… general, and in the case of very long delays an often virtually irrefutable presumption of prejudice to the accused resulting from the passage of time.” [39] In Mills v The Queen [1986] 1 SCR 863,919, para [145], another Canadian case, the concept of security of the person was said to encompass protection against: “overlong subjection to the vexations and vicissitudes of a pending criminal accusation” which include: “stigmatisation of the accused, loss of privacy, stress and anxiety resulting from a multitude of factors including possible disruption of family, social life and work, legal costs, uncertainty as to outcome and sanction. These forms of prejudice cannot be disregarded nor minimised when assessing the reasonableness of delay.”” THERE MUST BE GOOD REASON FOR A STAY TO BE GRANTED [40] A further general principle that must be borne in mind in a case of this nature is that, whilst each case must be decided on its merits, the grant of a permanent stay is an exceptional remedy – Clipsal Australia (Pty) Ltd v Gap Distributors (Pty) Ltd 2009 (3) ALL SA 491 (SCA); 2010 (2) SA 289 (SCA). [41] In Wells v Queen [2010] VSCA 100, the Supreme Court of Victoria (Australia) accepted that it is only in an exceptional or extreme case that a court would grant a permanent stay on the basis that such proceedings constituted an abuse of process and that the test to be applied is: “’whether, in all the circumstances, the continuation of the proceedings would involve unacceptable injustice or unfairness’, or whether the continuation of