Peace activist Terry Crawford-Browne has won the first round of his legal bout with the State challenging the arms deal. But it was a narrow victory and he will have to beef up his legal arsenal if he is to have any chance of emerging victorious after the final bell.

The Cape High Court this week delivered judgement in Crawford-Browne's application for the State to provide him with a range of documents about the arms deal that he argued he needed for his main case.

In the main case, Crawford-Browne -- representing himself and an international lobby group, Economists Allied for Arms Reduction (Ecaar) --is trying to have the arms deal set aside. His legal battle will have enormous consequences if it succeeds.

In the disclosure application, the State tried to blow Crawford-Browne's entire case out of the water by raising doubts about the Cape High Court's jurisdiction rights over the matter and querying whether Crawford-Browne or Ecaar had the necessary legal standing to bring the main application.

The State nearly succeeded.

Judge André Blignault, with Judge Dennis Davis concurring, asked if Crawford-Browne had successfully dealt with either objection, but the judge finally ruled that both issues were inextricably linked to the merits of the main case and would have to be decided then.

Crawford-Browne succeeded in having disclosed to him only one of nine categories of documents about the arms he had requested. The judges ruled he had not made a case for access to copies of the various contracts or loan agreements used to pay for the arms deal, which the government has declined to make public.But the judges supported the demand for access to documents containing the advice of two committees that Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel used in making his decision to enter into loan agreements to pay for the arms.

With acknowledgement to the Mail & Guardian.