Text in Afrikaans / The study investigates legal and administrative aspects of the interaction between public sector and private enterprise effected by state procurement of goods and services. South African government contracts are, despite their elaborate regulation by statutory and administrative prescription, regarded as the subject matter of the private law of contract. In this regard, they may be distinguished from the contrats administratif of the French and related legal systems and resemble their British and, more closely, federal American counterparts. Important aspects of government procurement, notably the contractual capacity of organs of the state, those administrative procedures which precede the conclusion of agreements with contractors, and the right reserved to the state to rescind, in the public interest, a contract duly entered into, are nevertheless to be determined by the principles of administrative law. The budgeting, audit and parliamentary control of procurement expenditure, along with the invitation of suppliers' bids and the award of contracts, are the principal administrative aspects of the study and are analysed in Chapters III and IV. The pricing of government contracts in South Africa is, with scant exception, determined by competitive tender. Restrictive trade practices and bid preferences awarded by procuring agencies in the pursuit of socio-economic policies were found, in Chapter V, to impede the operation of free market forces. The law of contract features most prominently in the performance of contracts and is examined in Chapter VI. The discussion, depicting the essential provisions of six standard form contracts commonly employed by government for stores and works, is fairly concise. References to British and American procurement law and practice, a consistent feature of the study, are, however, extensive. In South Africa, the settlement of procurement disputes is generally entrusted to the ordillary courts. Chapter VII deals with a number of special remedies accorded to the state, procedural prerequisites for the institution of civil actions against the state, and alternatives to litigation, especially arbitration and administrative appeal. The final chapters survey the efficacy of procurement as an instrument of socio-economic policy, and advance a few recommendations regarding the proper law and more efficient administration of government procurement. / Constitutional, International & Indigenous Law / 1 online resource (306 leaves) / LL. D.

Text in Afrikaans / The study investigates legal and administrative aspects of the interaction between public sector and private enterprise effected by state procurement of goods and services. South African government contracts are, despite their elaborate regulation by statutory and administrative prescription, regarded as the subject matter of the private law of contract. In this regard, they may be distinguished from the contrats administratif of the French and related legal systems and resemble their British and, more closely, federal American counterparts. Important aspects of government procurement, notably the contractual capacity of organs of the state, those administrative procedures which precede the conclusion of agreements with contractors, and the right reserved to the state to rescind, in the public interest, a contract duly entered into, are nevertheless to be determined by the principles of administrative law. The budgeting, audit and parliamentary control of procurement expenditure, along with the invitation of suppliers' bids and the award of contracts, are the principal administrative aspects of the study and are analysed in Chapters III and IV. The pricing of government contracts in South Africa is, with scant exception, determined by competitive tender. Restrictive trade practices and bid preferences awarded by procuring agencies in the pursuit of socio-economic policies were found, in Chapter V, to impede the operation of free market forces. The law of contract features most prominently in the performance of contracts and is examined in Chapter VI. The discussion, depicting the essential provisions of six standard form contracts commonly employed by government for stores and works, is fairly concise. References to British and American procurement law and practice, a consistent feature of the study, are, however, extensive. In South Africa, the settlement of procurement disputes is generally entrusted to the ordillary courts. Chapter VII deals with a number of special remedies accorded to the state, procedural prerequisites for the institution of civil actions against the state, and alternatives to litigation, especially arbitration and administrative appeal. The final chapters survey the efficacy of procurement as an instrument of socio-economic policy, and advance a few recommendations regarding the proper law and more efficient administration of government procurement. / Constitutional, International and Indigenous Law / 1 online resource (306 leaves) / LL. D.

Die ekstrinsieke getuienis-reël word in die algemeen beskou as een van die mees problematiese areas van die Suid-Afrikaanse bewysreg. Die Suid-Afrikaanse Regskommissie het dan ook redelik onlangs ondersoek ingestel na die wenslikheid van die behoud of afskaffing van die reël. Ondersoek word ingestel na die ware aard van die ekstrinsieke getuienis-reël en of die reël op ’n korrekte wyse in die Suid-Afrikaanse reg ingevoer is. ’n Deeglike kritiese ontleding word verder gedoen van die twee komponente waaruit die ekstrinsieke getuienis-reël bestaan, naamlik die integrasiereël en die interpretasiereël, met behoorlike verwysing na relevante regspraak en die standpunte van akademiese skrywers op hierdie gebied. Kritiese ondersoek word verder ingestel na die verslag en aanbevelings van die Suid-Afrikaanse Regskommissie ten aansien van die ekstrinsieke getuienis-reël. Die impak van die 1996 Grondwet, asook die moderne ontwikkeling van die rekenaar en elektroniese dokumente op die ekstrinsiekegetuienis-reël word ook kortliks ondersoek. Daar word verder grondig ondersoek ingestel na die ekstrinsieke getuienis-reël in ’n regsvergelykende perspektief met spesifieke verwysing na die Engelse, Amerikaanse, Kanadese, Nederlandse, Duitse, Franse en Switserse reg, asook die moontlike waarde wat sodanige benaderings kan toevoeg tot die reël in ’n Suid-afrikaanse konteks. Die gevolgtrekking waartoe gekom word in hierdie proefskrif is dat die ekstrinsieke getuienis-reël aansienlik gemodifiseer moet word in die Suid-Afrikaanse reg deur middel van die promulgering van spesifieke wetgewing op hierdie gebied. Die essensie van hierdie wetgewing moet daaruit bestaan dat alle relevante ekstrinsieke getuienis toegelaat behoort te word ten einde die ware bedoeling van die kontrakspartye vas te stel, behalwe waar dit blyk dat hulle ooreengekom het om hulle algehele ooreenkoms in die skriftelike kontrak te integreer. Daar behoort egter terselftertyd ’n aansienlike bewyswaarde aan die skriftelike dokument, asook die terme daarin vervat, geheg te word ten einde die onskendbaarheid van die skriftelike dokument te preserveer. / Criminal and Procedural Law / LL.D.

Die ekstrinsieke getuienis-reël word in die algemeen beskou as een van die mees problematiese areas van die Suid-Afrikaanse bewysreg. Die Suid-Afrikaanse Regskommissie het dan ook redelik onlangs ondersoek ingestel na die wenslikheid van die behoud of afskaffing van die reël. Ondersoek word ingestel na die ware aard van die ekstrinsieke getuienis-reël en of die reël op ’n korrekte wyse in die Suid-Afrikaanse reg ingevoer is. ’n Deeglike kritiese ontleding word verder gedoen van die twee komponente waaruit die ekstrinsieke getuienis-reël bestaan, naamlik die integrasiereël en die interpretasiereël, met behoorlike verwysing na relevante regspraak en die standpunte van akademiese skrywers op hierdie gebied. Kritiese ondersoek word verder ingestel na die verslag en aanbevelings van die Suid-Afrikaanse Regskommissie ten aansien van die ekstrinsieke getuienis-reël. Die impak van die 1996 Grondwet, asook die moderne ontwikkeling van die rekenaar en elektroniese dokumente op die ekstrinsiekegetuienis-reël word ook kortliks ondersoek. Daar word verder grondig ondersoek ingestel na die ekstrinsieke getuienis-reël in ’n regsvergelykende perspektief met spesifieke verwysing na die Engelse, Amerikaanse, Kanadese, Nederlandse, Duitse, Franse en Switserse reg, asook die moontlike waarde wat sodanige benaderings kan toevoeg tot die reël in ’n Suid-afrikaanse konteks. Die gevolgtrekking waartoe gekom word in hierdie proefskrif is dat die ekstrinsieke getuienis-reël aansienlik gemodifiseer moet word in die Suid-Afrikaanse reg deur middel van die promulgering van spesifieke wetgewing op hierdie gebied. Die essensie van hierdie wetgewing moet daaruit bestaan dat alle relevante ekstrinsieke getuienis toegelaat behoort te word ten einde die ware bedoeling van die kontrakspartye vas te stel, behalwe waar dit blyk dat hulle ooreengekom het om hulle algehele ooreenkoms in die skriftelike kontrak te integreer. Daar behoort egter terselftertyd ’n aansienlike bewyswaarde aan die skriftelike dokument, asook die terme daarin vervat, geheg te word ten einde die onskendbaarheid van die skriftelike dokument te preserveer. / Criminal and Procedural Law / LL.D.

The legal historical development of fairness in the South African common law of contract is investigated in the context of the political, social and economic developments of the last four centuries. It emerges that the common law of contract is still dominated by the ideologies of individualism and economic liberalism which were imported from English law during the nineteenth century. Together with the theories of legal positivism and formalism which are closely related to parliamentary sovereignty and the classical rule of law, these ideals were transposed into the common law of contract through the classical model of contract law which emphasises freedom and sanctity of contract and promotes legal certainty. This approach resulted in the negation of the court’s equitable discretion and the limitation of good faith which sustain the social and economic inequalities that were created under colonialism and exacerbated under apartheid rule. In stark contrast, the modern human rights culture grounded in human dignity and aimed at the promotion of substantive equality led to the introduction of modern contract theory in other parts of the world. The introduction of the Constitution as grounded in human dignity and aimed at the achievement of substantive equality has resulted in a sophisticated jurisprudence on human dignity that reflects a harmonisation between its Western conception as based on Kantian dignity and ubuntu which provides an African understanding thereof. In this respect, ubuntu plays an important role in infusing the common law of contract with African values and in promoting substantive equality between contracting parties in line with modern contract theory. It is submitted that this approach to human dignity should result in the development of good faith into a substantive rule of the common law of contract which can be used to set aside an unfair contract term or the unfair enforcement thereof. / Private Law / LL. D.

Electronic contracts in the new technological age and electronic commerce have brought about world-wide legal uncertainty. When compared to the traditional paper-based method of writing and signing, the question has arisen whether contracts concluded by electronic means should be recognised as valid and enforceable agreements in terms of the functional equivalence approach. This study will examine the law regulating e-commerce from a South African perspective in contrast to international trends and e-commerce law from the perspective of the United States. The research investigates various aspects of contract formation such as time and place, validity of electronic agreements, electronic signatures, attribution of electronic data messages and signatures, automated transaction as well as select aspects of e-jurisdiction from a South African and United States viewpoint. / Mercantile Law / LLM