8 [7] Both the magistrate and the court below founded their judgments on the principles encapsulated in the maxims nullum crimen sine lege (no crime without a law) and nulla poena sine lege (no punishment without a law). These maxims can be traced back to the French Revolution 11 and the provision in Articles 7 and 8 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 26 August 1789, which in translation read: ‘7 No person shall be accused, arrested, or imprisoned except in the cases and according to the forms prescribed by law … 8 The law must prescribe only the punishments that are strictly and evidently necessary, and no one may be punished except by virtue of a law drawn up and promulgated before the offence is committed, and legally applied.’12 The principles embodied in these maxims have subsequently been embodied in a number of human rights instruments. They are part of our law and are contained in ss 35(3)(l) and (n) of the Constitution, which read as follows: ‘(3) Every accused person has a right to a fair trial, which includes the right— (l) not to be convicted for an act or omission that was not an offence under either national or international law at the time it was committed or omitted; (m) … (n) to the benefit of the least severe of the prescribed punishments if the prescribed punishment for the offence has been changed between the time that the offence was committed and the time of sentencing.’ [8] The two maxims are, within their respective spheres, reflections of the principle of legality. In S v Dodo,13Ackermann J summed up their effect, insofar as the imposition of sentences for crimes is concerned, as 11 Or possibly earlier. See Aly Mokhtar ‘Nullum Crimen, Nulla Poena Sine Lege: Aspects and Prospects’ (2005) Statute Law Review 41 at 46-7. 12 Uttley, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2004] UKHL 38; [2004] 4 All ER 1 (HL) para 39. The incorporation of these provisions in the Declaration of the Rights of Man is hardly surprising. The French kings were absolute monarchs and summary imprisonment and other forms of punishment were commonplace. The defining moment of the revolution was the storming of the Bastille, a symbol of royal tyranny. 13 S v Dodo 2001 (3) SA 382 (CC) para 13.