Zimbabwe adopted the Lancaster Constitution in 1980. This constitution has been amended a record nineteen times. The critic on some of the amendments is that they have undermined the fundamental tenets of constitutionalism. Therefore, in the light of the fact that the tide of constitutionalism is sweeping throughout Africa, the dissertation critically evaluates the extent to which the Lancaster Constitution subsumes the basic tenets of constitutionalism. This evaluation is precipitated by the fact that Zimbabwe is currently grappling with drafting a new Constitution. Through this evaluation the inescapable conclusion is that the Lancaster Constitution merely provides a veneer of constitutionalism. Drawing from the constitutional experience of Anglophone African countries which include Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia; the dissertation offers some reforms which the drafters of the new constitution could include in the envisaged constitution. It is argued that it is only after a constitution embodies the identified fundamental tenets of constitutionalism that it becomes worth the paper it is written on. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

No abstract available. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

Kenya like many other countries offers asylum to refugees in fulfillment of the provisions of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention as well as the 1969 OAU Refugee Convention. The country, with the assistance of UNHCR, confers refugee status on refugees who meet the qualifications stated by the two treaties as well as the Refugee Act 2006. Rwandan refugees make up part of the refugee community in Kenya. Though refugee status was created to enhance refugee protection in countries of asylum, it was never intended to last a lifetime. The United Nations envisioned an end to refugee status when the reasons for flight as well as persecution no longer continued to exist. The cessation clause marks the end of refugee status and thus facilitates re-establishment in the country of origin. This study endeavours to explore the impact that the cessation clause will have on Rwandan refugees residing in Kenya specifically based on the widespread concern about the human rights situation in Rwanda. There is accordingly a need to explore the nature of the cessation clause, the reasons for its creation and further the qualifications entailed in its application. After understanding what the cessation clause is, there is the need to understand the genesis of Rwandan refugees. This will enhance the understanding of why Rwandan refugees continue to reside in Kenya even after the end of the Rwandan conflict. The study will then expound on the reasons for and against invocation of a cessation clause to provide an analysis of whether the country is indeed safe for return. To enhance this analysis, the study will provide a comparative study with Liberia and Angola, which recently implemented cessation clauses. Through this comparative assessment, the study will seek to ascertain the viability of the concerns raised in reference to Rwanda and further speculate on the outcome of the cessation clause pertaining to the concerns raised. This study will therefore be able to advise on whether the cessation clause applies to Rwandan refugees and thereafter offer recommendations as to whether implementation in the Rwandan context is feasible. It will also endeavor to provide an analysis of whether there is a need to amend the invocation procedure with regard to cessation clauses in general. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

Thesis (LLD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Ownership, and especially the ownership of land, consists of rights as well as duties. The social responsibilities of the owner depend on the prevailing needs of the public (as expressed in legislation) and are subject to change. Section 25(1) of the Constitution impliedly recognises the social obligations of the property owner insofar as it confirms that ownership can be regulated by the state in the public interest. Section 25(1) also sets requirements for the interference with property rights and, in so doing, recognises that the social obligations of the property owner are not without boundaries. In its landmark FNB decision the Constitutional Court gave content and structure to a section 25(1) challenge. The Constitutional Court held that deprivations will be arbitrary for purposes of section 25(1) if the law of general application does not provide sufficient reason for the deprivation or is procedurally unfair. The Constitutional Court elaborated that ‘sufficient reason’ had to be determined with reference to eight contextual factors which reflect the complexity of the relationships involved in the dispute. With reference to section 25(1) and FNB this dissertation considers the constitutional implications of two types of statutory interference with the owner’s right to use, enjoy and exploit his property. Firstly, the dissertation considers the owner’s statutory duty in terms of the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act 103 of 1977 to demolish unlawful and illegal building works in certain instances. Secondly, the dissertation considers the limitations imposed by the National Heritage Resources Act of 25 of 1999 and the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act 19 of 1998 (PIE) on the owner’s right to demolish historic or unlawfully occupied structures. This dissertation argues that building and development controls, historic preservation laws and anti-eviction legislation are legitimate exercises of the state’s police power. Generally, these statutory interferences with ownership will not amount to unconstitutional deprivation of property. Nevertheless, there are instances where regulatory laws cannot be applied inflexibly if doing so results in excessive interferences with property rights. The FNB substantive arbitrariness test indicates when the law imposes disproportionate burdens on land owners. Furthermore, the non-arbitrariness tests shows when it might be necessary to mitigate disproportionate burdens, imposed in terms of otherwise legitimate regulatory laws, by way of German-style equalisation measures, which are comparable to the constitutional damages granted by South African courts. This dissertation concludes that in the past century the South African legal system has progressed from the apartheid regime, which protected the rights and interests of the white minority, to a constitutional regime which safeguards the rights of all South Africans. There are two legal developments that may lead to positive change in the next century, namely active pursuance of the notion that ownership consists of rights and duties and the development of equalisation-style measures, incorporated into legislation, to alleviate excessive burdens imposed on property owners in the public interest. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Eiendomsreg, veral eiendomsreg op grond, bestaan uit regte sowel as pligte. Die sosiale verantwoordelikhede van die eienaar word bepaal deur die heersende behoeftes van die publiek (soos in wetgewing beliggaam) en is onderhewig aan verandering. Artikel 25(1) van die Grondwet erken implisiet die sosiale verpligtinge van die eienaar in soverre dit bevestig dat eiendomsreg nie ʼn absolute reg is nie en dat dit deur die staat in die openbare belang gereguleer kan word. Artikel 25(1) koppel vereistes aan statutêre beperkings wat op die eienaar se regte geplaas kan word en erken daardeur dat die sosiale pligte van die eienaar nie onbegrens is nie. In die invloedryke FNB-beslissing het die Grondwethof inhoud en struktuur aan grondwetlike analise ingevolge artikel 25(1) gegee. Die Grondwethof het bepaal dat ʼn ontneming arbitrêr sal wees vir die doeleindes van artikel 25(1) as die algemeen geldende reg nie genoegsame rede vir die ontneming verskaf nie of as die ontnemingsproses prosedureel onbillik was. Die Grondwethof het uitgebrei dat ‘genoegsame rede’ bepaal moet word met verwysing na agt kontekstuele faktore wat die kompleksiteit van die verhoudinge wat in die geskil betrokke is, weerspieël. Met verwysing na artikel 25(1) en FNB oorweeg hierdie proefskrif die grondwetlike implikasies van twee tipes statutêre beperkinge wat deur wetgewing op eienaars se regte geplaas word. Eerstens neem die proefskrif die eienaar se statutêre plig ingevolge die Wet op Nasionale Bouregulasies en Boustandaarde 103 van 1977 om onwettige en onregmatige geboue en bouwerke te sloop, in oënskou. Tweedens oorweeg die proefskrif die beperkinge ingevolge die Wet op Nasionale Erfenishulpbronne 25 van 1999 en die Wet op die Voorkoming van Onwettige Uitsettings en Onregmatige Besetting van Grond 19 van 1998 op die eienaar se reg om historiese en onregmatige bewoonde strukture te sloop. Die proefskrif betoog dat bou- en ontwikkelingsbeheermaatreëls, historiese bewaringswette en uitsettingsvoorkomingswetgewing legitieme uitoefening van die staat se polisiëringsmag is. In die algemeen sal hierdie statutêre inmenging nie uitloop op ongrondwetlike ontneming van eiendom nie. Nietemin is daar gevalle waar die regulerende wette nie onbuigsaam toegepas kan word nie indien dit tot uitermatige inmenging met die eienaar se regte lei. Die FNB-toets vir substantiewe arbitrêre ontneming dui aan wanneer ‘n wet ʼn disproporsionele las op grondeienaars plaas. Verder wys die FNB-toets wanneer dit nodig mag wees om oneweredige laste, wat deur andersins regmatige regulerende wette opgelê is, te versag. Dit kan gedoen word deur middel van ʼn statutêre maatreël, geskoei op Duitse voorbeeld, wat vergelykbaar is met grondwetlike skadevergoeding wat deur Suid-Afrikaanse howe toegeken is. Hierdie proefskrif kom tot die gevolgtrekking dat die Suid-Afrikaanse regstelsel oor die afgelope eeu ontwikkel het van die apartheidsbestel, wat die regte en belange van die wit minderheid beskerm het, tot die huidige grondwetlike bestel wat die regte van alle Suid-Afrikaners beskerm. Twee ontwikkelinge kan tot positiewe verandering in die volgende eeu lei, naamlik aktiewe bevordering van die gedagte dat eiendomsreg uit regte en verpligtinge bestaan en ontwikkeling van statutêre maatreëls wat die uitermatige las wat in die openbare belang op eienaars geplaas word, te verlig.