The objective of this thesis is to assess the impact and influence of South Africa's
Constitutional Court in the first two years of our democracy. To achieve this objective,
some of the definitive and controversial cases already decided by the Court have been
selected and analysed in an attempt to glean some jurisprudential perspectives of the
Court.
It focuses on the work of the Court over the past two years. It deals with the evolution
of South Africa into a democracy, and analyzes the South African legal system prior to
the beginning of the process of transformation. It briefly surveys the evolution of our
constitutional system, dating back from the pre-1910 colonial period and provides a
broad outline of the legal system in the post-April 1994 period of transformation.
It analyzes the Court from the point of view of, inter alia, its composition, jurisdiction and
powers. The Court is also contrasted with courts in other jurisdictions which exercise
full judicial review.
The Court's emerging jurisprudence is examined. A review is made, inter alia, of the
Court's understanding of, and approach to, the questions of the values underpinning
the post-apartheid society and its constitutional system, and constitutional
interpretation.
The right against self-incrimination and South African company law and the two relevant
Constitutional Court cases are discussed.
The collection of evidence by the State and the constitutionality of provisions relating
to search and seizure and the taking of fingerprints are looked into.
The Court's approach to statutory presumptions and criminal prosecutions; some aspects of our appeals procedures; an accused's right to be assisted by a lawyer at
state expense; the question of a fair trial and access to information; capital punishment;
corporal punishment; committal to prison for debt; and the certification of constitutions
is analyzed.
Two of the cases in which the provinces clashed with the national government on the
distribution of posers between provinces and the national government are discussed.
The conclusion is that the Court has, overall, hitherto acquitted itself well in the handling
of particularly the controversial quasi-political questions that arose in the cases it has decided. / Constitutional, International and Indigenous Law / L.L. D. (Law)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/18713 |
| Date | 06 1900 |
| Creators | Maduna, Penuell Mpapa |
| Contributors | Van Wyk, D. H. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (xvii, 529 leaves) |
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