Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Paraguayan Justice has been going through a period of deep transformation. The Justice has many challenges to face. Those challenges should be regarded as opportunities for transformation and not as threats. It is a fact that information and communication technology (ICT) per se cannot solve all current challenges; however, it can offer solutions to the many problems that confront the judiciary. In that sense, ICT development becomes the best ally of Justice. The Information, Technology, Processes, Objectives and values, Staff and skills, Management systems and structures, and Other resources (ITPOSMO) dimensions described by Heeks (2006) are applied as the basis for evaluating ICT in the judicial sphere. This research validates the opinion of the users with regard to ICT projects. Judges, court and administrative officials, managers and lawyers constitute the unit of analysis of this study. These stakeholders were interviewed and requested to complete a survey. The study reveals the high level of relevance that ICT holds for the judiciary, in the sense of providing information and tools for interacting with different users. The objective of ICT is to act as support for improving court and administrative performance through the different ICT systems. Nonetheless, this research has also uncovered limitations and flaws in the current information systems. These flaws tend to turn the benefits that ICT systems can bring into constraints. This study makes various suggestions on how to overcome those flaws. The most important suggestion is the development of a holistic approach when ICT projects are conceived. Likewise, the early involvement of stakeholders who will be influenced by any ICT initiative should be encouraged. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Paraquay se Justisie het deur ‘n moeilike transformasie tydperk gegaan. Die Justisie het met baie uitdagings te doen gekry. Hierdie uitdagings moet beskou word as geleenthede vir transformasie en nie as bedreiginge nie. Dit is ‘n feit dat inligting en kommunikasie tegnologie (IKT) op sigself nie alle huidige uitdagings kan oplos nie, alhoewel dit oplossings kan verskaf vir baie van die probleme wat die regbank ondervind. In hierdie opsig is IKT ontwikkeling die beste roete vir Justisie. Die Inligting, Tegnologie, Prosesse, Doelwitte en waardes, Personeel en vaardighede, Bestuurstelsels en –strukture, en Ander hulpbronne (ITPDPBA) dimensies wat deur Heeks (2006) beskryf word, is gebruik as basis vir die evaluering van IKT in die regterlike omgewing. Hierdie navorsing staaf die opinie van die gebruikers wat betref IKT projekte. Regters, regs- en administratiewe beamptes, bestuurders en regsgeleerders vorm die eenheid van analise in hierdie studie. Onderhoude is met hierdie rolspelers gevoer en hulle is versoek om ‘n vraelys te voltooi. Die studie het die hoë vlak van toepaslikheid wat IKT vir die regbank bied deur die voorsiening van inligting en hulpmiddels vir interaksie met verskillende gebruikers, onthul. Die doel van IKT is om as ondersteuning te dien om howe en die administrasie se werkverrigting te verbeter met behulp van verskillende IKT stelsels. Nogtans het hierdie navorsing ook beperkinge en foute in die huidige inligtingstelsels bloot gelê. Hierdie foute neig om die voordele wat IKT stelsels kan bring, in beperkinge om te skakel. Hierdie studie maak verskeie voorstelle oor hoe om daardie foute te oorkom. Die belangrikste voorstel is die ontwikkeling van ‘n holistiese benadering wanneer IKT projekte bedink word. Terseldertyd moet die vroeë betrokkenheid van rolspelers wat deur enige IKT inisiatief beïnvloed sal word, aangemoedig word.

This study was conducted with the aim to research guidelines for uniformed members, detectives, and public witnesses, for use in testifying in court. The researcher reviewed relevant literature, both national and international, in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the research problem. The researcher conducted the research on the basis of an empirical design, be-cause it involved going out into the field and ascertaining the personal experiences and knowledge of the participants. The explicit design was considered the most suitable for this research, because the researcher put everything in the open by checking the weak points and the strong points regarding testifying in court. This means that everything was made open, even police testimony. / Police Practice / M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

This article seeks to explore the present language scenario in courts of law. The article makes use of section 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996), as a point of departure. At face value this section seems to entrench the language rights of individuals. This would mean that individuals could request trials to be held in their mother tongues, with fluent and competent speakers of that mother tongue sitting on the bench. However, this has not materialised. Contrary to popular opinion, the article argues that individual language rights are to some extent entrenched in the Constitution, but there are no mechanisms to secure such rights in the public domain. The article argues that it is often only language privileges that are preserved in institutions such as the justice system. Legally speaking, there is an obligation on the State to provide interpreters to facilitate access to all eleven official languages in courts of law. This in itself presents numerous challenges. The article argues further that the corollary to this is that there is very little space for intercultural communication in courts of law (as defined by Ting-Toomey, 1999, and Gibson, 2002). There has been little or no capacity building in this regard. It is English, to some extent Afrikaans, and the western cultural paradigm, which prevails. The result is further communication breakdown and language intolerance. In this article, the notion of language rights in courts of law is explored against the backdrop of existing theories of intercultural communication.

In South Africa there is no legislation defining the role of court interpreters. This has resulted in legal officials (magistrates and judges) forming their own opinions as to what the role of court interpreters is. As such court interpreters find themselves performing tasks that are outside their scope of duties, for example acting as magistrates, in turn compromising their own tasks in the process. The aim of this study therefore is to determine the degree to which the lack of a definition of the role of court interpreters affects the quality of court interpreting. In the study, the researcher was guided by the Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) approach. The research procedures that were followed in the study combined the top-down and bottom-up approaches. In the top-down approach, two legislations, namely, “The Magistrates’ Court Act 44 of 1944 (as amended)” and “The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 93 of 1996 (as amended)”, were examined in order to determine whether the role of court interpreters is defined and, if so, to what extent. In the bottom-up approach, examples of court proceedings were studied in order to determine specific roles that are played by court interpreters during trials. Extracts from transcripts of mechanically-recorded court proceedings were also analysed to establish whether magistrates made any references to the role of court interpreters in these trials. It is hoped that this study will shed more light on the role of court interpreters which could lead to better quality interpreting. / Linguistics / M.A. (Linguistics (Translation studies))

Language rights in South Africa are entrenched in the Constitution of South Africa (Chapter 1, Section 6, Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996). However, the concomitant infrastructure and organisational realities make this policy difficult to implement, especially in law courts (Kaschula and Ralarala 2004). Creating effective communicative environments has historically been constrained by lack of effective training of legal practitioners and by the lack of capacity for building translation structures. With the advancement of technology, potential solutions are becoming more apparent and it is incumbent upon the academic community to embark on a rigorous investigation into possible solutions and how these Information Communication Technology (ICT) solutions could be applied to the execution of justice in South African law courts. This article aims to open the discourse of possible solutions, via assessments of computer based translation solutions, ICT context simulations and other potential opportunities. The authors hope to initiate the interest of other language and legal practitioners to explore how the new technological capabilities could be harnessed to support the entrenchment of language rights in our law courts.

In South Africa there is no legislation defining the role of court interpreters. This has resulted in legal officials (magistrates and judges) forming their own opinions as to what the role of court interpreters is. As such court interpreters find themselves performing tasks that are outside their scope of duties, for example acting as magistrates, in turn compromising their own tasks in the process. The aim of this study therefore is to determine the degree to which the lack of a definition of the role of court interpreters affects the quality of court interpreting. In the study, the researcher was guided by the Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) approach. The research procedures that were followed in the study combined the top-down and bottom-up approaches. In the top-down approach, two legislations, namely, “The Magistrates’ Court Act 44 of 1944 (as amended)” and “The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 93 of 1996 (as amended)”, were examined in order to determine whether the role of court interpreters is defined and, if so, to what extent. In the bottom-up approach, examples of court proceedings were studied in order to determine specific roles that are played by court interpreters during trials. Extracts from transcripts of mechanically-recorded court proceedings were also analysed to establish whether magistrates made any references to the role of court interpreters in these trials. It is hoped that this study will shed more light on the role of court interpreters which could lead to better quality interpreting. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Linguistics (Translation studies))

The law of civil procedure is an important branch of South African law as it resolves individual civil disputes through a regulated judicial system. Mandatory statutes and rules regulate the processes when bringing disputes to court. For example, the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013, regulates the superior courts, while the provisions of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 32 of 1944, as well as the Small Claims Court Act 61 of 1984, control the lower courts. Further, a series of court rules ensure efficient operation of different courts and support the overarching legislation. For example, the Constitutional Court Rules, Rules Regulating the Conduct of the Proceedings of the Supreme Court of Appeal, Uniform Rules of Court, Magistrates’ Courts’ Rules, and the Rules of Small Claims Court support the implementation of legislation. The researcher submits, however, that the current legislative provisions, and their enabling rules, are not fully complementing the Electronic Communication and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 and are thereby impeding the growth of e-technology law in South Africa. Put differently, they do not embrace the use of e-technology and digital devices. It appears that in future civil proceedings will occur electronically through digital and e-technology devices. Present legislation does not cater for this practical reality. This calls for South African courts to, for example, install satellite devices that will ease the use of e- technology in civil proceedings. The researcher avers that there have been attempts by the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court of Appeal to enable electronic communication through their websites, but this is insufficient to effectively implement the provisions of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 especially insofar as service of process. The courts have effectively moved away from the decision in Narlis v SA Bank of Athens, which excluded computer-generated evidence and there have been attempts by South African courts in recent decisions to appreciate the use of e-technology. For example, in CMC Woodworking Machinery v Odendaal Kitchens the court, for the first time, acknowledged service of court papers via Facebook. Further, in Spring Forest Trading v Wilbery, the Supreme Court of Appeal confirmed that electronic communication such e-mail, can be used to cancel agreements, even where parties incorporated a non-variation clause into the agreement. However, there is an urgent need to review and amend South African statutes and rules to fully acknowledge the fact that e-technology is a constantly evolving modern reality. Therefore, South African laws and rules ought to be in-line with e-technology developments and competitive with international jurisdictions such as England, the United States of America and Canada. The rules of these jurisdictions realise the use of e-technology and digital e-technology, particularly in England where a pilot project that facilitates the use of e-technology and digital e-technology in civil proceedings, is already in place. The time has come to fully employ e-technology and digital e- technology law within South African law of civil procedure. This research investigates the possibility, and practical implications, thereof. / Criminal and Procedural Law / LL. D.