Legal Articles and Guides
Top court tells state to stop wasting time
The Constitutional Court has warned the government and the legislature not to waste time in amending laws found to be unconstitutional, says a TimesLIVE report. The court reluctantly granted a third extension to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, which has been ordered to secure the amendment of the Performing Animals Protection Act in a case brought by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Qwelane freedom of speech battle this week
Journalist and diplomat Jon Qwelane"s controversial freedom of speech battle gets a hearing in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) this week when he seeks to have sections of the law governing hate speech and harassment declared unconstitutional. A Mail & Guardian report says Qwelane is challenging the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act.
Now Motata challenges JSC tribunals
Judge Nkola Motata has instituted a challenge to the constitutionality of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) Act, a move likely to bring the entire judicial accountability process to a halt once again, says a Business Day report. Motata"s papers were filed on the day the Constitutional Court gave a ruling that cleared the way for a number of judicial disciplinary proceedings to proceed after a three-year delay.
Top court clears path for Hlophe impeachment hearing
It was in the interests of justice for the gross misconduct complaint against Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe, which has dragged on for more than eight years, to be concluded without any further delay, the Constitutional Court said in a judgment yesterday. Unless there is yet another twist, notes a BDlive report, the judgment clears the way for the JSC to finally resolve the Hlophe complaint and for all the other Judicial Conduct Tribunals " which had ground to a halt because of the litigation " to proceed.
Zuma SCA appeal a delaying tactic
The DA has filed its answering affidavit with the SCA in the latest round of the Zuma corruption charges saga, DA federal executive chairman James Selfe said yesterday, according to a report on the IoL site. Zuma is seeking leave to appeal the recent judgment handed down by a full Bench of the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria), which effectively reinstated the 783 fraud, racketeering, and corruption charges controversially withdrawn by former NPA head Mokotedi Mpshe.
Police have lessons to learn
"Arrests and detention are not measures our Constitution created to apply to juvenile offenders. While it is clear that children can still be arrested and detained, police officers should not be so quick to exercise these measures against minors," says Safura Abdool Karim, in an analysis of the Constitutional Court judgment in Raduvha v Minister of Safety and Security and Another on the GroundUp site.
Watershed case on rights for same-sex couples
The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) has submitted representations to be friends of the court in what a Cape Times report calls a watershed court case interrogating the rights of same-sex couples after death. Represented by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), the CGE made representations yesterday in the Constitutional Court as amicus curiae in the application for leave to appeal in the case of Laubscher NO versus Duplan and Another.
SCA reserves judgment on Winelands toll appeal
The City of Cape Town, strongly opposed to the SA National Roads Agency"s (Sanral"s) plan to toll segments of the N1 and N2 in the Western Cape, says it is prepared to take its fight against tolling plans to the Constitutional Court if necessary. A BDlive report notes that in 2015, the Western Cape High Court put the brakes on Sanral"s tolling plans, when it ruled in the metro"s favour by setting aside the declaration to toll sections of the highways.
Rights of child again stressed in top court
The rights of a child not to be detained except as a measure of last resort have been confirmed by the Constitutional Court‚ which ruled yesterday (Thursday) that a teenager can go ahead with a claim for damages against the state, notes a BDlive report. Joyce Raduvha wants damages from the Minister of Safety and Security after she was arrested without a warrant. She was 15 at the time.
Westinghouse tender battle draws in Eskom managers
The suspension of senior managers at Eskom"s Koeberg nuclear power plant followed closely on the filing of court papers in the Constitutional Court in which Toshiba subsidiary Westinghouse said Eskom had made false claims in the two companies" battle over a R5bn tender, notes a Business Day report. In the battle between Eskom and winning bidder Areva, the French nuclear company, on one side, and loser Westinghouse over the tender to replace six steam generators at Koeberg, one of the hotly disputed issues is whether a delay to their installation would pose a nuclear safety risk or would put the national grid at risk.
Black Sash tackles government on grant deductions
The government is facing a counter legal challenge in a dispute with Net 1 UEPS Technologies with a rights group demanding that it protect welfare recipients from companies that are allegedly selling the nation"s poorest people goods and services they don"t need and deducting payments from grants paid to them by the state, says a report on the Fin24 site.
The Legal Resources Centre brings contempt action against Minister
The Legal Resources Centre (LRC) has lodged an urgent application to declare that Rural Development and Land Reforms Minister, Gugile Nkwinti, is in contempt of a court order, says a Cape Times report.
Constitutional Court agrees to hear al-Bashir appeal
The Constitutional Court has agreed to hear an appeal by the state against a SCA ruling that the government acted contrary to the Constitution when it failed to detain Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in the country last year. The hearing has been set down for 22 November.
Journalist was just doing his duty
Senior political anchor at the SABC Vuyo Mvoko should not be punished, even for a day, for doing his constitutional duty, the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) heard yesterday. Legalbrief notes the court is expected to rule today on whether he will be immediately reinstated or told to await the outcome of an SABC investigation of misconduct against him. A BDlive report points out Mvoko is the last of the eight journalists who lost their jobs at the public broadcaster for criticising it for its ban on the broadcast of footage of violent protests. The other seven, who were employees, were reinstated after court action.
Top court dismisses 'ordinary mail' appeal
In a split decision, the Constitutional Court yesterday dismissed an application for leave to appeal against the dismissal of an exception in the Western Cape High Court. The ground for the exception was that a statutory notice in terms of section 127 (2) of the National Credit Act (NCA) by ordinary mail is insufficient and not in compliance with the provisions of the NCA. First Rand Bank instituted action against the applicant for payment of an amount of R224 880.27 allegedly outstanding in terms of a credit agreement under the NCA. The bank alleged that it caused a notice in terms of section 127(2) of the NCA to be sent to the applicant and attached a copy of the notice to the particulars of claim.
