Issue 3, 2005 Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg - Volume 2005,
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2005, pp 429 –434 (2005)
Professor GN Barrie was na voltooiing van sy LLB in 1964 aan die Universiteit van Pretoria enkele jare as aanklaer en staatsadvokaat in die departement van justisie werksaam, maar het hom reeds in 1967 by UNISA aangesluit toe hy sy inherente akademiese ingesteldheid nagegaan het. Hy was sedert 1969, dit wil sê vanaf byna die begin van die regsfakulteit van die RAU (1968) tot reg aan sy einde met die samesmelting van daardie universiteit tot die huidige Universiteit van Johannesburg (2004) &apos;n gerekende lid van dié regsfakulteit nadat hy van UNISA gewerf is.
American foreign policy : prejudices and responsibilities of the sole surviving superpower in the world
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2005, pp 435 –447 (2005)
Amerikaanse buitelandse beleid : verantwoordelikhede as laaste groot moondheid
Civil liability for gross human rights violations
Hennie Strydom and
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2005, pp 448 –468 (2005)
Sivielregtelike aanspreeklikheid vir growwe menseregteskendings
Die idee van &apos;n sivielregtelike remedie vir ernstige skendings van fundamentele regte en vryhede as &apos;n bykomende afdwingingsmeganisme het in die jongste tyd aan prominensie gewen. Ook die pogings om siviele eise in Amerika teen Suid-Afrikaanse en ander maatskappye vir hulle beweerde ondersteuning van die apartheidsregering in te stel, het plaaslik heelwat reaksie uitgelok en selfs die huidige Suid-Afrikaanse regering gedwing om standpunt oor die saak in te neem. In hierdie artikel word die ontwikkeling van siviele remedies en die probleme wat litigante in die gesig staar ondersoek binne die raamwerk van die internasionale verpligting wat state het om in hulle onderskeie nasionale regstelsels effektiewe remedies vir ernstige skendings beskikbaar te stel. Aan die hand van regspraak en ander ontwikkelings in die VSA, Europa en Suid-Afrika word die aandag ook gevestig op die vele prosesregtelike en ander hindernisse wat in die weg van siviele eise le.
Quo vadis geregtelike hersiening van administratiewe handelinge?
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2005, pp 469 –481 (2005)
Quo vadis with judicial review of administrative actions?
The South African law of judicial review of administrative action evolved over many decades. The right to lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair administrative action is now entrenched in the constitution and amplified by the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000. Under our new dispensation, judicial decisions on the legality of administrative action have become more and more embroiled with issues of government policy. This requires a fresh look at the courts&apos; traditional deference to administrative decision-making. The crucial question is how the courts in adjudicating upon the exercise of governmental policy, can still uphold the fundamental principle of the separation of powers and maintain their independence.
Immunity, human rights and international crimes
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2005, pp 482 –488 (2005)
Fluitjieblasers - is dit die huidige regering se erns?
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2005, pp 489 –498 (2005)
Whistleblowers - is the present government serious about protecting them?
This article is in honour of Prof George Barrie, a long time colleague and friend.
In administrative law and especially in labour law the term "whistleblowing" is used to denote the disclosure by a person of some irregularity or crime, usually in the workplace. The Protected Disclosures Act 26 of 2000 introduced into our law a set of rules for the protection of whistleblowers against dismissal, victimisation, etc. The purpose of the act, inter alia, is to create a culture of disclosing criminal acts and other irregularities. Another purpose is to promote the eradication of criminal and other irregular conduct in organs of state and private bodies.
To answer the question posed in the heading, a case is discussed of which writer hereof has first-hand experience. The case deals with T, a deputy director-general in a state department, who disclosed to the news media that his boss, the minister, was guilty of certain criminal acts and irregularities. Instead of investigating the allegations, the department chose to suspend T and then charged him in a disciplinary hearing. T was found not guilty on all the charges. The ratio for this was that T was bona fide, that he had reason to believe that the disclosure was substantially true and that he further complied with all the requirements of the act for a protected disclosure. T was reinstated. Such finding meant that the suspension and disciplinary action were occupational detriments in terms of the act. An occupational detriment is defined in the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 as an unfair labour practice. Despite this, the department refused to compensate T. This obliged T to approach the labour court for relief and the case is still pending.
This experience convinced the writer that the government is not serious about its avowed intention to protect whistleblowers.
Without fear or favour - ensuring the independence and credibility of the "weakest and least dangerous branch of government"
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2005, pp 499 –513 (2005)
Sonder aansien des persoons - hoe om die onafhanklikheid en geloofwaardigheid van die "swakste en mins gevaarlike" vertakking van die owerheid te verseker
Daar word algemeen erken dat &apos;n onafhanklike en onpartydige regbank, as element van die leerstuk van skeiding van magte, onontbeerlik is vir &apos;n moderne regstaat. Onafhanklikheid van die regbank hang veral af van die wyse waarop regsprekende beamptes aangestel (en moontlik ontslaan) word. In Suid-Afrikaanse verband speel die Regterlike Dienskommissie hier &apos;n sentrale rol.
Een van die neteligste probleme raak die posisie van die laerhowe en die mate waarin hulle as onafhanklik van veral die uitvoerende gesag beskou kan word. Hierdie kwessie het aandag geniet in S v Van Rooyen. Die konstitusionele hof, anders as die Transvaalse hooggeregshof, het beslis dat laerhowe wel voldoende onafhanklik is al is hulle nie in dieselfde mate as die hoër howe onafhanklik nie.
Onafhanklikheid is wel die belangrikste faktor wat geloofwaardigheid verseker, maar die bevoegdheid van regsprekende beamptes, die mate waarin hulle toerekenbaar en toeganklik is, en veral in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks, die mate waarin hullle verteenwoordigend van die bevolking is, is ook belangrike aanwysers.
Uiteindelik is gehalte van die regspraak wat gelewer is, oftewel die vraag of geregtigheid gedien word, egter deurslaggewend.
Wat is die huidige regstatus van selfbeskikking in die vorm van sesessie in die internasionale reg?
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2005, pp 514 –530 (2005)
Secession : right or remedy?
Secession, as one of the logical consequences of the right of self-determination, is a contentious issue. Until recently, it was considered illegal for a group to secede from a state. Since the break-up of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union however, the issue of secession has received renewed attention. The legality of the aspiration to secede in defined situations, as well as the appropriate means by which secessionist aims may be pursued or resisted, are the issues that concerns international lawyers today.
The issue of secession arises whenever a significant proportion of the population of a given territory, being part of a state, expresses the wish by word or by deed to become a sovereign state in itself or to join with and become part of another sovereign state. Secession is considered the ultimate possibility for a group caught in total failure of the intended balance between self-determination of all the peoples, and minority rights of some of the people.
Self-determination is normally to be exercised within the borders of existing states, that is with due regard to the principle of territorial integrity. There is no inherent right on the part of a people within a state to secede. While secession is not contrary to international law, there is a presumption in favour of territorial integrity and against secession. Secession should be recognized where it is agreed to by all the component parts of the state to be dissolved. Where there is no agreement on the component parts of a state to secession, the international community will not recognize the secession, unless the people of the seceding territory constitute a distinct people, having regard to their language, culture and historical experience; the people have a clear historical claim to the territory in question; the territory occupied by the secessionist group came under the control of the existing state by some unjustifiable historical event; the will of the people of the territory has been expressed by means of a referendum or election and shows very clear support for secession; the human rights of the people have been seriously violated and they have been denied proper participation in the government of the state from which they wish to secede.
Recognition will not be accorded to a seceding territory unless it complies fully with the traditional requirements of statehood expounded in the Montevideo Convention, particularly effective government and it provides adequate national and international guarantees for the protection of its minorities.
Secession is therefore a justified "remedy" and a "ground of justification" for a group suffering some unjustifiable act, the result which can be full statehood for the secessionist group.
A new international law on foreign investment
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2005, pp 531 –546 (2005)
&apos;n Nuwe internasionale reg insake beleggings
Die ontwikkeling van en snelle groei in die sluiting van bilaterale beleggingsverdrae het tot gevolg dat &apos;n nuwe stel internasionale regsreëls met betrekking tot beleggingskontrakte tussen buitelandse beleggers en gasheerstate aan die ontwikkel is. Weens die skepping van die Internasionale Sentrum vir die Beslegting van Beleggingsgeskille deur die Washingtonse Konvensie in 1965 (ICSID), word daar tans aan individue die reg verleen om, in geval van geskille wat direk vanuit &apos;n beleggingskontrak voortspuit, en indien die betrokke state lidstate van die konvensie is, die geskil met die staat persoonlik by die sentrum aanhangig te maak. Hiermee word die individu dus van internasionale regspersoonlikheid voorsien en kan dus op die internasionale vlak in eie naam teen &apos;n gasheerstaat optree. Hierdie reëling geld in alle gevalle waar die gasheer- en die tuisstaat lede van ICSID is. Bilaterale beleggingsverdrae bevat in die grootste meerderheid van gevalle ook uitdruklike geskilbeslegtingsklousules ingevolge waarvan geskille wat op die beleggings uit hoofde van die verdrag betrekking het, na die een of ander vorm van internasionale arbitrasie verwys moet word, meestal na ICSID. Die hoeveelheid arbitrasietoekennings wat deur die internasionale arbitrasietribunale gelewer word en die feit dat die arbitrasietribunale mekaar se toekennings in ag neem, gee daartoe aanleiding dat &apos;n magdom regspraak oor internasionale beleggingsreg aan die ontwikkel is. Deur die ontwikkeling van die regspraak is daar ook bepaalde regsreëls aan die ontwikkel wat eie is aan internasionale beleggings. Hierdie ontwikkeling is so dinamies dat &apos;n mens kan begin praat van die ontwikkeling van &apos;n nuwe internasionale reg insake beleggings.
South Africa from pre-colonial times to democracy : a constitutional and jurisprudential odyssey
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2005, pp 547 –571 (2005)
Suid-Afrika van pre-koloniale tye tot demokrasie : &apos;n staatsregtelike en jurisprudensiële reis
Hierdie bydrae gee &apos;n oorsig van die pre-koloniale samestelling en ontwikkeling van die inheemse bevolkings van Suid-Afrika, die invloed van kolonialisering en die daaropvolgende staatsregtelike en politieke temas wat die huidige nuwe grondwetlike bedeling voorafgegaan en beinvloed het. Die bydrae sluit af met &apos;n samevatting van die vernaamste politieke en sosio-ekonomiese probleme wat binne die raamwerk van die nuwe grondwetlike bedeling oorkom moet word.
Agenda vir &apos;n dringende vergadering op die dorpsplein : &apos;n kritiese analise van die definisie van terrorisme (slot)
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2005, pp 572 –586 (2005)
Agenda for an urgent meeting in the village square: a universally accepted definition of terrorism
This article explores the notion of terrorism. It starts by considering an appropriate definition. Most people think they know exactly what is meant by the term terrorism. A critical analysis of the term shows a lot of fuzziness and contradictions about what exactly constitutes terrorism. Proposing countermeasures to terrorism has become a national pastime since hijackings, bombings, and hostage crises became regular features of the daily news. Despite a high public awareness of the threat, there is no wide consensus of what terrorism actually is. The term terrorism has no widely accepted or precise definition. The problem of a suitable definition is compounded by the fact that terrorism has become a fad word. The term is generally pejorative. As a result, one man&apos;s terrorist is another man&apos;s freedom fighter. This article refers to contemporary definitions and determines that they are inadequate. The author avers to various problems with current definitions and offers an appropriate scholarly remedy in terms of which no absolute definition is formulated, but the framework for an objective description of terrorism is explained. The article argues that an appropriate description of terrorism should include an unambiguous standard - in doing so the author rejects the notion that there can be no objective description of terrorism and / or no universal standards of conduct. The term is best defined by the quality of the act, and not by the identity of the perpetrators or the nature of their cause - only then will the description prove flexible enough to respond to the changing nature of the terrorist threat. Without a general consensus of what terrorism is, the task of organising government and even private resources to combat terrorism, is intimidating and almost impossible. It is against this background that the author considers the South African law commission&apos;s report on the review of security legislation (Terrorism: s 54 of the Internal Security Act 74 of 1982), the proposed anti-terrorism bill of 2002 and the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist and Related Activities Act 33 of 2004.
A note on aspects of the emergence of an independent regulator for the private security industry in South Africa : aantekeninge
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2005, pp 587 –594 (2005)
The Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority ("the Authority") is the semi-autonomous, independent statutory body which currently undertakes the regulation of the private security industry in South Africa in terms of the Private Security Industry Regulation Act 56 of 2001. This situation is the result of a period of legislative initiatives and reform spanning more than 20 years (see generally Grant "Private policing" 1989 Acta Juridica 92-117; Geldenhuys Sekuriteitsreg (1992) 181 et seq; Irish "Policing for profit: the future of South Africa&apos;s private security industry" in ISS Monograph Series (1999) 36-40; Berg "The private security industry in South Africa: a review of applicable legislation" 2003 SACR 178-196; Siebrits Regulation of the Private Security Industry (2001 dissertation SA) 69 et seq; Visser "Some thoughts on the reform of the law in terms of which the private security industry in South Africa is regulated" 2000 Obiter 307-324; "Proposed changes regarding the nature and composition of the regulator of the private security industry" 2001 De Jure 358-363; "Legal changes in the regulation of the private security industry" 2004 Strategic Review for Southern Africa 1-22).
Middellike aanspreeklikheid van die Staat vir verkragting deur polisiebeamptes : regspraak
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2005, pp 595 –602 (2005)
In die onlangse verlede het die howe en skrywers hulle dikwels uitgelaat oor die vraag of werkgewers (die staat inbegrepe) middellik aanspreeklik behoort te wees vir die opsetlike delikspleging (soos bedrog, diefstal, aanranding, seksuele teistering en verkragting) deur van hulle werknemers.
Malicious injury to property caused by a computer virus : regspraak
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2005, pp 603 –609 (2005)
The shortcomings that existed in the South African criminal law to deal with crimes committed in respect of inter alia computer software prior to the inception of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (the act), were highlighted in a case recently heard in the regional court, Johannesburg (the specialised commercial crime court). The act came into operation on 30 August 2002 and one of its main aims is to prevent the abuse of information systems. In this regard extensive provision was made in the act to create new offences and to address procedural difficulties experienced in the investigation and prosecution of cyber crimes (Watney "Die strafregtelike en prosedurele middele ter bekamping van kubermisdaad" 2003 TSAR 68; Van der Merwe "Computer crime - recent national and international developments" 2003 THRHR 43; Ebersöhn "A common law perspective on computer-related crimes" 2004 THRHR 22 and 193).
Borgverbande oftewel algemene notariële verbande en borgstelling : regspraak
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2005, pp 609 –619 (2005)
Selfs deurwinterde juriste struikel verbasend maklik oor van die basiese beginsels van die sekerheidsreg. In beginsel word aanvaar dat geen sekerheidsreg (of dit oor persoonlike sekerheid of saaklike sekerheid handel, maak aan dié premis geen verskil nie), kan bestaan sonder voldoening aan die sogenaamde aksessoriteitsbeginsel nie. Hierdie beginsel erken die wesensaard van sekerheidstelling: die gekose sekerheidsfiguur moet dien ter versterking van &apos;n reeds bestaande vordering van die sekerheidsreghebbende teen die prestasieskuldenaar.
When is a contract one of insurance? Or, is an insurance contract without a premium possible? : regspraak
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2005, pp 619 –624 (2005)
Say a bond agreement provides that "[the mortgagor] hereby declares that the advantages of life insurance that in terms of this loan covers the amount owed, have been fully explained to [him], and that [he has] chosen to accept this cover". Does such a provision make the lender (mortgagee) the life insurer of the borrower (mortgagor)? Secondly, and let us assume for the moment that such a provision does indeed constitute a life insurance contract between the mortgagor and the mortgagee, what happens if they fail to agree on a premium payable in terms of the contract? These were the crisp questions in Absa Bank Ltd v Swanepoel NO 2004 6 SA 178 (SCA).
No person shall be denied the right to education : the influence of the European Convention on human rights on the right to education and rights in education, Jan de Groof en Gracienne Lauwers (Reds.) : book review
Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg 2005, pp 625 –626 (2005)
Die boek onder bespreking, &apos;n produk van die European Association for Education Law and Policy, is &apos;n poging om die reg in te lei en te ontleed. Dit is bekendgestel tydens die "World Conference on the Right to Education and Rights in Education" wat plaasgevind het in Nederland in November 2004 met sprekers soos die kommissaris vir onderwys van die Europese Unie, Jan Figel, en die Suid-Afrikaanse minister van onderwys, Naledi Pandor.