Human Rights in Context: A Case Study

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2008:

Objectives:

A candidate who has successfully completed the subject should have an understanding of:

• The difference between constitutional and parliamentary supremacy
• The relevance of context generally and the contextual setting in which the South African Constitution was adopted
• International human rights law and its relevance to national human rights law
• The approach of the South African Constitutional Court to the interpretation, enforcement and protection of human rights in South Africa
• The imperatives of the South African Constitution for reconstruction of South African society and the statutory framework that has been created for that purpose
• The nature and role of the judiciary in a constitutional value-driven democracy
• How the South African experience may be helpful to strengthen development in other democratic societies.

Syllabus:

Principal topics will include:

• The South African struggle for democracy, the constitutional negotiations and the process by which the Constitution was finally democratically adopted
• Equality in the South African Constitution with particular reference to customary law, marriage, sexual orientation, affirmative action; substantive and formal equality
• Freedoms of association, expression and religion
• Socio-economic rights and the right to property in the South African Constitution
• Fair labour practices in South Africa
• The importance and nature of fair legal process, including civil and criminal trials
• Separation of powers in a constitutional democracy, the role of the judiciary and the need for reconstruction of the judiciary
• Representative or participatory democracy?
• An objective of the exploration of these topics will be to show the relevance of South African jurisprudence to democracies elsewhere.

• Take-home examination (100%) (4-7 April)

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Objectives:

A candidate who has successfully completed the subject should have an understanding of:

• The difference between constitutional and parliamentary supremacy
• The relevance of context generally and the contextual setting in which the South African Constitution was adopted
• International human rights law and its relevance to national human rights law
• The approach of the South African Constitutional Court to the interpretation, enforcement and protection of human rights in South Africa
• The imperatives of the South African Constitution for reconstruction of South African society and the statutory framework that has been created for that purpose
• The nature and role of the judiciary in a constitutional value-driven democracy
• How the South African experience may be helpful to strengthen development in other democratic societies.

Syllabus:

Principal topics will include:

• The South African struggle for democracy, the constitutional negotiations and the process by which the Constitution was finally democratically adopted
• Equality in the South African Constitution with particular reference to customary law, marriage, sexual orientation, affirmative action; substantive and formal equality
• Freedoms of association, expression and religion
• Socio-economic rights and the right to property in the South African Constitution
• Fair labour practices in South Africa
• The importance and nature of fair legal process, including civil and criminal trials
• Separation of powers in a constitutional democracy, the role of the judiciary and the need for reconstruction of the judiciary
• Representative or participatory democracy?
• An objective of the exploration of these topics will be to show the relevance of South African jurisprudence to democracies elsewhere.

• Take-home examination (100%) (4-7 April)