Issue 3, 2008 Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg - Volume 2008,
Prof IM Rautenbach
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 379 –382 (2008)
Ignatius Michael Rautenbach, &apos;n seun van die Oos-Vrystaat met die Drakensberge voor oë het kleintyd die waarheid geleer dat hoewel &apos;n mens jou oë na die berge mag opslaan vir nuwe moed en krag, die berge slegs &apos;n tydelike én dus oorwinbare belemmering vorm vir &apos;n juiste blik op die verre horison. Hy word alom erken as een van die deurslaggewende rolspelers in die agterliggende staatkundige denke wat in die nuwe grondwetlike bestel vir Suid-Afrika neerslag gevind het - &apos;n vêrsiende nalatenskap wat toekomstige geslagte na waarde sal skat.
Die privaatregtelike erfsonde van die publiekreg
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 383 –396 (2008)
Ig Rautenbach, &apos;n hoogs gewaardeerde en gerespekteerde kollega tydens die tien jaar wat ek werksaam was by die Randse Afrikaanse Universiteit en later die Universiteit van Johannesburg, het sover ek weet hom nooit in sy publikasies uitgespreek oor die verhouding tussen die privaat- en die publiekreg nie. Uit vele insiggewende gesprekke met hom oor die vertikale en horisontale werking van grondwetlike regte, het dit egter vir my duidelik geword dat die gedagte dat die privaatreg eintlik maar &apos;n onderafdeling van die publiekreg is (gegewe die onderhorigheid van die privaatreg aan grondwetlike beginsels) hom diep gefassineer het.
Constitutionally protected rights for parents?
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 397 –411 (2008)
The South African Constitution of 1996 is one of the most comprehensive in the world. There are nevertheless a number of interesting omissions from the impressive list of rights that enjoy express constitutional protection. Among these are family rights. Such an omission need not prove an insurmountable obstacle, however : there are a number of routes via which such rights may qualify for constitutional protection.
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 412 –424 (2008)
As navorser oor die publiekreg is Ig Rautenbach van akademiese "kindsbeen" af &apos;n regsvergelyker. Hy het sy dissipline gedurende sy loopbaan sien groei en verander. Hier, in erkenning van sy inspirerende werk oor meer as drie dekades, is hierdie artikel &apos;n poging om &apos;n greep te kry op die grondige veranderinge wat die staatsreg ondergaan. Binne een akademiese generasie het die staatsreg sy aard van &apos;n relatief parogiale dissipline, grootliks beperk tot die nasiestaat se funksionering binne sy territoriale jurisdiksie, verander na &apos;n regsgebied wat oopgesper is vir invloede vanuit vele ander wetenskaplike dissiplines.
Die teorie en praktyk van die 1996-grondwet : &apos;n versigtige waardering
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 425 –448 (2008)
Die inwerkingtreding van die oorgangsgrondwet van 1993 en kort daarna die Grondwet van die Republiek van Suid-Afrika, 1996 (die finale grondwet) en die gepaardgaande vreedsame oorgang na &apos;n nie-rassige konstitusionele demokrasie word allerweë as &apos;n wonderwerk beskou. En dit is ook. Teen die agtergrond van die hoogspanning van die tagtigerjare het daar op politieke, intellektuele en gesindheidsvlak iets gebeur wat nie sonder meer logies verklaarbaar is nie.
Counter-productive impact of freedom of access to information-related legislation on good governance outcomes in South Africa
Fanie Cloete and
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 449 –463 (2008)
This article is concerned with the way in which access to information in the possession of the South African state promotes or obstructs good governance in this country. It starts off by briefly contextualising access and transparency as crucial elements of good governance. It then briefly highlights various international attempts to assess accessibility to and transparency of information controlled by government, and assesses the experience in this regard so far in South Africa.
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 464 –480 (2008)
The constitution is explicitly committed to redressing and transforming socio-economic exclusion and marginalisation. This is manifest, amongst other constitutional provisions, in the entrenchment of a comprehensive range of socio-economic rights read together with the provisions relating to substantive equality, land reform and environmental rights.
The intrinsic uneasy triangle between constitutionalism, secularism and the right to freedom of religion - a South African perspective
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 481 –498 (2008)
The relationship between the concepts of constitutionalism, secularism and an individual&apos;s fundamental right to freedom of religion has been strenuous over many centuries. Continuous power struggles between state institutions and religious bodies have been extensively documented in various legal, political and philosophical books and journals. Although the world has developed significantly from some decades ago, the interaction between the three concepts still creates many political and legal disputes and this often accounts for an uneasy or unstable triangle, in domestic legal systems, global political relations and international law alike.
The Srebrenica genocide and the responsibility of states and international organizations
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 499 –517 (2008)
On 16 April 1993, the Security Council of the United Nations, acting under chapter VII of the UN Charter, declared the town of Srebrenica and surrounding areas in the former Yugoslavia a safe area that was supposed to remain free from any armed attack or any other hostile act. This intervention followed on information provided by the secretary-general of the United Nations indicating a rapid deterioration of the situation in the area as a result of the continued deliberate armed attacks and shelling of the innocent civilian population by Bosnian Serb paramilitary units, the consequence of a war of attrition, terror and gangsterism that was to follow the independence of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992 and which was another phase in the disintegration of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 518 –535 (2008)
Over the past decade, local government has experienced a deluge of laws from the national government. While the provinces have been modest in their contribution to the regulation of local government during this period, the old provincial ordinances cling tenaciously to the statute book. The aim of the new legislation was to give practical effect to the vision of developmental local government envisaged in chapter 7 of the constitution. Of paramount importance was legislation that sought to structure the institutions and process of local government, including the Municipal Structures Act, the Municipal Electoral Act, the Municipal Systems Act, the Municipal Finance Management Act, the Municipal Rates Act, and most recently,the Municipal Fiscal Powers and Functions Act.
Die Suid-Afrikaanse presidentsamp - &apos;n konstitutionele turksvy : aantekeninge
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 536 –542 (2008)
Die inrigting van die Suid-Afrikaanse presidentsamp berus op &apos;n eenvoudige premis, naamlik dat die leier van die meerderheidsparty deur die nasionale vergadering as president verkies word. Hierdie voorveronderstelling is ernstig versteur deur die ANC se Polokwanekongres van einde 2007 toe &apos;n leier van die meerderheidsparty en meeste van die party se hoogste ampsdraers uit geledere buite die kabinet en die parlement verkies is. Die gevolg is die skepping van twee duidelike magsbasisse, één in die president en sy kabinet en die ander in die party-bewind.
The role of the magistrates in South Africa in extradition and "surrender" proceedings : aantekeninge
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 543 –549 (2008)
Extradition is the delivery of an accused or a convicted individual to the state where he is accused of, or has been convicted of, a crime, by the state on whose territory he happens for the time to be. No such rule forms part of customary international law. Before the eighteenth century, extradition of ordinary criminals hardly ever occurred. Many states did however surrender to each other political fugitives, heretics and immigrants voluntarily or in consequence of special treaties.
The concept of privacy in the South African constitution : reprise : aantekeninge
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 549 –557 (2008)
Open almost any work on privacy, whether in law or philosophy, and it will begin by lamenting the difficulty (even the impossibility) of defining the concept. What usually follows is a critique of all previous attempts at definition, preceding the announcement of a new and improved definition that answers all previous objections. This will, in turn, fall victim to the irremediable slipperiness of the concept that was admitted to at the outset and will be the subject of a successive attempt at definition, and so on. Is there any way to get off this merry-go-round?
Die direktoraat van spesiale operasies (Skerpioene) as misdaadbestrydingseenheid : aantekeninge
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 557 –574 (2008)
Min mense in Suid-Afrika het nie die laaste tyd óf deelgeneem aan die debat oor die Skerpioene óf minstens daarvan in die media kennis geneem nie. In hierdie bydrae word hul rol en voortbestaan vanuit &apos;n juridiese (strafregpleging) perspektief in oënskou geneem. Die oënskynlike oorvleueling tussen die funksies van die Skerpioene en die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens (die polisie), asook bewerings dat die Skerpioene hul bevoegdhede oorskry, noodsaak &apos;n diepgaande studie.
Subrogation in terms of a marine insurance contract governed by foreign law : the untraceable or no longer existing insured creates a dilemma for insurers - The Mt "Yeros" v Dawson Edwards & Associates 2007 4 All SA 922 (C) : regspraak
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 575 –586 (2008)
This decision concerned mainly procedural matters in an admiralty action in rem, but nevertheless highlighted an arcane procedural niche of the principle of subrogation as it operates in insurance law. That should not be too surprising. After all, subrogation is for a large part nothing more than a procedural device in the service of the indemnity principle. Furthermore, the decision is of note in that it concerned a contract of marine insurance, a species of insurance that despite its ancient pedigree rarely comes before local courts these days. And finally, the decision raised a small but moot point in the field of private international law. But first, the background.
Constitutional values and the proprietary consequences of marriage in private international law - introducing the lex causae proprietatis matrimonii - Sadiku v Sadiku case no 30498/06 (26-01-2007) (T) (unreported) : regspraak
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 587 –596 (2008)
Employees, occupational injuries and the Road Accident Fund - Road Accident Fund v Monjane 2007 4 All SA 987 (SCA) : regspraak
Daleen Millard and
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 596 –604 (2008)
A recent judgment of the supreme court of appeal that dealt with an occupational injury sustained in the course of a motor vehicle accident was met with some criticism. However, the application for leave to appeal was refused by the constitutional court, which means that the supreme court of appeal&apos;s judgment is the binding legal position - even if not uncontroversial. The judgment endorses the existing restrictions on the rights and remedies available to a certain category of road accident victims and warrants further discussion. For that reason, this contribution endeavors to analyse and evaluate this judgment having regard to the wider social protection landscape in South Africa.
Is die ongegronde van afgesproke prestasie steeds verryking? - Watson NO v Shaw NO 2008 1 SA 350 (K) : regspraak
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 605 –618 (2008)
Verrykingsaanspreeklikheid is aanspreeklikheid ter herstel van &apos;n ongegronde vermoënsverskuiwing. Die aanspreeklikheid volg uit &apos;n verbintenis wat ontstaan deurdat een persoon se vermoë ten koste van &apos;n ander se vermoë vergroot is, sonder dat daar &apos;n grond (of rede) is wat die reg as afdoende beskou vir die verskuiwing na (of die behoud van waarde in) die vermoë van die eersgenoemde regsubjek (Sonnekus Ongegronde Verryking in die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg (2007) 1). Dié omskrywing veronderstel nakoming van elk van die wesenlike elemente van die ongegronde baattrekking vervat in die omskrywing alvorens &apos;n verbintenis tot herstel van die ongegronde baattrekking ter sprake kom.
Constitutionalism in the Netherlands and South Africa : A Comparative Study, G.N. Barrie : boekbespreking
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2008, pp 619 –621 (2008)
Three years before the outbreak of World War II the eminent American historian McIlwain wrote that the one great issue that overshadowed the world at that time was the issue between constitutionalism and arbitrary government. The big question, he said, was whether rule by law or rule by arbitrary will would become the characteristic of governments (Constitutionalism and the Changing World (1939) 267). After Hitler&apos;s defeat he wrote that the principle of constitutionalism was being questioned as never before. He wrote that the world was trembling in the balance between the ordinary procedure of law and the processes of force which seemed so much quicker and effective (Constitutionalism (1947) 1).