This thesis deals with issues related to decision-making practice of Czech courts in cases where the plaintiff sought protection against racial discrimination in civil proceedings. Specifically, the thesis endeavours - through the analysis of selected decisions of higher courts and the practice of lower courts - to answer the question of whether the judicial practice together with the applicable laws provide sufficiently effective judicial protection of the right to equal treatment. The first part defines the concept of race as discriminatory ground, as this term is used in legislation in a very broad way and contrary to some scientific concepts of race. The second part contains a brief summary of the legal regulation of non-discrimination in international, European and Czech law. This section focuses on the legal framework applied by Czech courts in the decisions discussed and provides a basis for the following analytical part. The third part, which is the key part of the thesis, deals with decision-making practice of the courts with focus on the problematic aspects of protection against racial discrimination in legislation regulating the protection of personal rights. The shortcomings of judicial practice ascertained are then compared with the new rules contained in the Anti-Discrimination Act....

This study investigates the interaction between freedom and limitation as applied to political expression and hate speech. The need for the limitation of hate speech, with its inherent risk of escalation into other serious crimes such as genocide, is established. The view of the South African courts is identified as pro-limitation but generally respectful of the right to freedom of expression. A lacuna in current constitutional law, common law and legislative remedies is evident and the various ways in which limitation can be effected are explored; the researcher finds for criminalisation as an effective measure to address this lacuna in hate speech regulation. The importance of complying with the international call for the criminalisation of hate speech is analysed. Insight is gained regarding what would be an effective model for criminalisation. Here lessons are taken from foreign comparatives that have successfully criminalised hate speech in the context of their cultural identity, history and social needs. Ultimately, a framework for effective hate speech criminalisation in South Africa is formulated. / Constitutional, International and Indigenous Law / LL.M

Racism has informed South African society since colonial times. Racist beliefs found expression in the laws of colonial and apartheid South Africa and shaped both state and society. The constitutional state that South Africa has become since 1994, is based on the values of ‘human dignity’, ‘the achievement of equality’ and ‘nonracialism’, among others. Law formed the basis of the racist state prior to 1994, and now law has a fundamental role to play in the transformation of the state and society in an egalitarian direction by addressing socio-economic inequalities on the one hand, and by changing patterns of behaviour based on racist beliefs forged in the past, on the other. This thesis examines one of the legal instruments that is intended to contribute to transformation in the latter sense, namely the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 4 of 2000 (the Equality Act), with specific reference to the issue of racism. The provisions of this Act and the framework for its operation against the background of South Africa’s racist past, and within the broader framework of international and constitutional law, are examined. These two legal frameworks are analysed for the purpose of determining the standards set by international and constitutional law regarding racial equality in order to determine whether the Equality Act measures up. This thesis also incorporates an analysis of the practical application of the provisions of the Equality Act to complaints of racism in selected equality courts. The theoretical analysis of the Act’s provisions and their application in the equality courts point to various problematic formulations and obstacles which negatively affect the application of the provisions and thus hamper social change. The thesis concludes with recommendations for refining the Act’s provisions and its application.

Thesis (LLM)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The rights entrenched in the Bill of Rights in South Africa’s final Constitution are, with a few exceptions, guaranteed to citizens and non-citizens alike. South Africa has seen an influx of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees since 1994, and this migratory movement has posed significant challenges to the post-apartheid legal order. This thesis is concerned with the State’s implementation of its constitutional obligations to protect and guarantee the constitutional rights of everyone within the borders of South Africa. It is important that these constitutional obligations do not remain mere aspirations but should translate into reality. Most non-citizens living in South Africa face numerous barriers to accessing justice and the processes that could enable them to realise their rights. The thesis examines the concept of “access to justice” and investigates a number of obstacles encountered by different categories of non-citizens – such as refugees, asylum seekers and documented and undocumented migrants – in trying to access justice and to realise their rights. Against this background, arrest, detention and deportation under the Immigration Act and Refugees Act are examined because these processes have often been abused by State officials to prevent non-citizens from accessing the rights and protections guaranteed in these Acts and the Constitution, and to frustrate the implementation of court orders vindicating the rights of non-citizens. The application of the Immigration and Refugees Acts is discussed through the lens of sections 12(1), 33, 34 and 35(2) of the Constitution which ensure that arrest, detention and deportation are done in a lawful and procedurally fair manner, as opposed to the arbitrariness that most non-citizens experience on a daily basis. Secondly, the thesis also examines access to justice for non-citizens in the context of xenophobia and bias based crimes. The State has in the past failed to respond in a coordinated and timely fashion in the face of violent manifestations of xenophobia. Against this background, the State’s obligation to protect non-citizens from violence from either public or private sources in terms of section 12(1)(c) of the Constitution is discussed and analysed. The role, accessibility and effectiveness of Equality Courts are also examined in light of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act and the cases that were brought before them emanating from xenophobic incidents. The thesis concludes with proposals on areas which require better implementation of existing laws; and areas in which legislative reform is needed. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die regte wat in die Handves van Regte in Suid-Afrika se finale Grondwet veranker is, word op enkele uitsonderings na vir burgers en nie-burgers gewaarborg. Sedert 1994 het Suid- Afrika instroming van migrante, asielsoekers en vlugtelinge beleef, en hierdie verskuiwing het wesenlike uitdagings aan die post-apartheid regsorde gestel. Hierdie tesis is gemoeid met die Staat se implementering van sy grondwetlike verpligting om die grondwetlike regte van almal wat hul binne Suid-Afrika se landsgrense bevind, te beskerm en te waarborg. Dit is belangrik dat hierdie grondwetlike verpligtinge nie blote aspirasies bly nie, maar ’n werklikheid word. Die meeste nie-burgers wat in Suid-Afrika woon staar talle hindernisse in die gesig wat dit vir hulle moeilik maak om toegang tot geregtigheid te verkry en om hul regte te verwesenlik. Die tesis ondersoek die begrip “toegang tot geregtigheid” en bekyk aantal struikelblokke in die weg van verskillende kategorieë nie-burgers – soos vlugtelinge, asielsoekers en gedokumenteerde en nie-gedokumenteerde migrante – wat toegang tot geregtigheid probeer verkry en hul regte probeer verwesenlik. Teen hierdie agtergrond word arrestasie, aanhouding en deportering ingevolge die Wet op Immigrasie en die Wet op Vlugtelinge ondersoek, aangesien hierdie prosesse dikwels deur staatsamptenare misbruik word om nie-burgers te verhinder om toegang te verkry tot die regte en beskermings wat in hierdie wetgewing en in die Grondwet gewaarborg word, en om geregtelike bevele wat die regte van nie-burgers afdwing, te verydel. Die toepassing van die Wet op Immigrasie en die Wet op Vlugtelinge word deur die lens van artikels 12(1), 33, 34 en 35(2) van die Grondwet bespreek, wat probeer verseker dat arrestasie, aanhouding en deportering op regmatige en prosedureel billike manier geskied, in teenstelling met die willekeur wat nie-burgers op daaglikse basis ervaar. Tweedens ondersoek die tesis toegang tot geregtigheid vir nie-burgers in die konteks van vreemdelingehaat en misdade wat op vooroordeel gebaseer is. Die Staat het in die verlede in gebreke gebly om in die aangesig van gewelddadige manifesterings van vreemdelingehaat op gekoördineerde en tydige manier te reageer. Die Staat se verpligting om ingevolge artikel 12(1)(c) van die Grondwet nie-burgers teen geweld van hetsy openbare hetsy private oorsprong te beskerm, word bespreek en ontleed. Die rol, toeganklikheid en doeltreffendheid van gelykheidshowe word ook bespreek in die lig van die Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act en die sake wat deur hierdie howe beslis is wat uit xenofobiese voorvalle voortspruit. Die tesis sluit af met voorstelle oor terreine waar beter implementering van bestaande wetgewing benodig word, asook terreine waar wetgewende hervorming verlang word.

A tension arises whenever the South African private law fails to meet constitutional right norms. To remedy a deficiency, two law-making options are available. The first is for the judiciary to develop or change private law principles and rules in order to provide protection for the implicated constitutional norm. The second is for the judiciary to enforce an obligation upon Parliament to enact legislation to amend or replace existing private law rights and obligations so as to safeguard the norm against interference from a private individual or entity. The former is the more conventional option, but, in recent years, the law reports record an increasing reliance on the legislative duty to protect constitutional right norms in private legal relationships. The thesis investigates the extent to which the latter phenomenon - which will be described as a 'pivot towards legislative remedies' - exists, and the circumstances in which the courts pivot towards legislative remedies rather than developing private law of their own accord. The thesis finds that legislative schemes that give effect to constitutional rights are likely to contain an array of benefits that are absent from or reduced in the judicial law-making process. The judicial pivot towards legislative remedies is thus a strategy to enhance the process through which conflicting rights are resolved, as it allows for the constitutional rebuilding of private law in a way that the judiciary is unable to do on its own. Importantly, however, theories of judicial deference do not explain the pivot. On the contrary, the courts have exercised a strict level of control over the legislative law-making pathway. Through either statutory interpretation or the review of legislation, the courts require legislation to contain the essentials of the judicial law-making framework. From this perspective, the judicial law-making process produces the floor of the rebuilding project and the legislative law-making process enhances that framework.