{"title":"Book Review: Joseph W Dellapenna & Joyeeta Gupta (eds) Water Law (2021)","authors":"Germarie Viljoen","doi":"10.47348/salj/v139/i2a9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47348/salj/v139/i2a9","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:p>None</jats:p>","PeriodicalId":39313,"journal":{"name":"South African law journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70822864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An introduction to proof in South Africa","authors":"T. Mosaka","doi":"10.47348/salj/v139/i4a5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47348/salj/v139/i4a5","url":null,"abstract":"The evaluation of evidence is a process about which not much is written, nor is it regulated as much as the comparable processes of admissibility and forms of presenting evidence are in South African evidence scholarship. This article follows the example set by Paizes by arguing for the introduction of a general theory of ‘proof’, which is used interchangeably with ‘evaluation’ in the article. After briefly introducing the existing doctrine, which consists mainly of a handful of the rules and guidelines that South African courts typically use to evaluate evidence, the article offers six justifications for the introduction of a general theory of proof in South African evidence scholarship. The third part of the article gives a methodological account of what is meant by a general theory of evidential proof in South African evidence scholarship. Part IV of the article comprises a discussion of the two foundational conditions required for a South African theory of proof.","PeriodicalId":39313,"journal":{"name":"South African law journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70823056","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"‘I beg to differ’: Are our courts too agreeable?","authors":"Owen Rogers","doi":"10.47348/salj/v139/i2a4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47348/salj/v139/i2a4","url":null,"abstract":"If dissenting judgments perform a valuable function in the administration of justice, too little dissent may indicate that the administration of justice is not reaping the benefits of dissent. South Africa belongs to the common-law tradition, which has always allowed dissenting judgments. The civil-law system traditionally did not, and this is still the position in many countries. In the modern era, considerations of transparency and accountability favour the disclosure and publication of dissenting judgments. Although they can play a role in the development of the law, their most valuable function is to improve the quality of judicial output by requiring majority judgments to confront the dissenting judgments’ reasoning. Factors which may affect the extent of dissent in appellate courts include case complexity and control over rolls; panel sizes; judicial diversity, personality and turnover; court leadership; research resources; modes of judicial interaction; and protocols on the timeliness of judgments. Data on dissent in South Africa’s Constitutional Court, Supreme Court of Appeal and Labour Appeal Court, as well as in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the United States, suggest that there is less dissent in our intermediate appellate courts than might be expected. Changes in work procedures could yield a healthier pattern.","PeriodicalId":39313,"journal":{"name":"South African law journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70822404","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"‘Privacy by design’ in the EU General Data Protection Regulation: A new privacy standard or the Emperor’s new clothes?","authors":"D. Donnelly","doi":"10.47348/salj/v139/i3a4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47348/salj/v139/i3a4","url":null,"abstract":"Privacy by design (‘PbD’) is a conceptual framework that has been widely adopted as a helpful, practical framework for organisations to ‘translate’ legal data protection principles into concrete technical design and organisational policies. It can offer a harmonising framework for multiple, overlapping legal compliance obligations. Privacy is engineered directly into the design of new technologies, as a default setting, while still achieving full functionality. The article explains the seven foundational principles of the concept with detailed cross reference to the relevant conditions of lawful processing under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (‘POPIA’), offering the first in-depth analysis of PbD in a South African context. PbD is now an express legal obligation in art 25 of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (2016). The article sketches the background to that important development and provides an in-depth critique of the three key shortcomings of art 25. It recommends that instead of following the EU example, South Africa’s Information Regulator could promote the adoption of PbD through a guidance note and in approved codes of conduct. It concludes that a PbD approach is already (albeit only impliedly) required for compliance with the conditions of lawful processing under POPIA.","PeriodicalId":39313,"journal":{"name":"South African law journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70823265","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book Review: Lawyers in Turmoil: The Johannesburg Conspiracy of 1895 (2020)","authors":"E. Fagan","doi":"10.47348/SALJ/V138/I1A9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47348/SALJ/V138/I1A9","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:p>None</jats:p>","PeriodicalId":39313,"journal":{"name":"South African law journal","volume":"138 1","pages":"197-203"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70821223","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book Review: Sabino Cassese Advanced Introduction to Global Administrative Law (2021)","authors":"G. Caswell","doi":"10.47348/salj/v138/i3a10","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47348/salj/v138/i3a10","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:p>None</jats:p>","PeriodicalId":39313,"journal":{"name":"South African law journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70821389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Notes: Declaring directors of state-owned entities delinquent: Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse v Myeni","authors":"Rehana Cassim","doi":"10.47348/SALJ/V138/I1A1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47348/SALJ/V138/I1A1","url":null,"abstract":"This note discusses and critically analyses the judgment in Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse v Myeni [2020] 3 All SA 578 (GP), in which the court declared a director delinquent for her lifetime in terms of s 162(5) of the Companies Act 71 of 2008. The basis of the application related to the director’s conduct while she was a nonexecutive director and chairperson of South African Airways SOC Ltd. The judgment is commendable for its strict stance against errant directors of state-owned companies. It is the first delinquency application brought by a party acting in the public interest, and the first judgment to impose a lifelong delinquency declaration on a director.","PeriodicalId":39313,"journal":{"name":"South African law journal","volume":"138 1","pages":"1-19"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70820597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Section 45 of the Tax Administration Act: An unconstitutional limitation on taxpayer privacy?","authors":"F. Moosa","doi":"10.47348/SALJ/V138/I1A8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47348/SALJ/V138/I1A8","url":null,"abstract":"The Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011 is a law of general application. Section 45 of the Act empowers a SARS official to enter, without a warrant, premises where a trade or enterprise is reasonably believed to be carried on in order to conduct an inspection aimed at gathering information that will aide SARS in determining whether the business operator is compliant with tax obligations. In a constitutional democracy, the enjoyment of fundamental rights has a high premium. Accordingly, every lawful exercise of the power conferred by s 45 must take place in an orderly fashion, with decency and respect for taxpayers and their privacy. The state may not unduly interfere with this right, whether by withdrawing it altogether, abridging it, or diminishing its scope and ambit. This article hypothesises that inspections undertaken in terms of s 45 limit taxpayers’ privacy in a manner that may not pass muster under s 36(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. On this basis, it is argued that, to cure its deficiencies, s 45 ought to be amended by the introduction of the provisions proposed in this article.","PeriodicalId":39313,"journal":{"name":"South African law journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70821340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Blood and breath alcohol test results: Uncertainty at the interface of science and law","authors":"J. Laurens, P. Carstens, L. Curlewis","doi":"10.47348/salj/v138/i3a5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47348/salj/v138/i3a5","url":null,"abstract":"Alcohol is well known for its ability to impair human faculties, which creates risks when driving a vehicle or when performing safety- and risk-sensitive tasks in workplaces. The article aims to highlight some shortcomings in the legal-scientific approach for alcohol testing in South Africa. In particular, we investigate the measurement uncertainty of blood alcohol test results, which is critical in adjudicating over-the-limit cases. The South African regulatory framework for alcohol testing in the criminal- and private-law environments is examined from an analytical due-process perspective, considering measurement uncertainty and other well-established scientific principles which are essential at the interface of science and law. Special attention is paid to the National Road Traffic Amendment Bill, which aims to decrease the alcohol limit to zero. We found that the measurement uncertainty concept has not yet been received into the South African legal system, even though it is a well-established scientific principle. We suggest changes to the current alcohol legislation to accommodate the measurement uncertainty principle and the related likelihood ratio, which we believe could assist in quantifying the odds of compliance. In particular, we believe that our suggestions regarding quantification and reporting of measurement uncertainty can assist the courts and tribunals to avoid false-positive errors that may have a devastating effect on innocent subjects.","PeriodicalId":39313,"journal":{"name":"South African law journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70821451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Notes: ‘They’re not making land anymore’: A reading of the social function of property in Adonisi","authors":"T. Coggin","doi":"10.47348/salj/v138/i4a1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47348/salj/v138/i4a1","url":null,"abstract":"In the Western Cape High Court decision of Adonisi, Gamble J framed the prevalence of well-located land scarcity in Cape Town with the phrase, ‘they’re not making land anymore’. In this case note, I present the court’s findings and reasoning in ruling against the Western Cape Provincial Government, and I argue we can read the judgment as an expression of the social function of property through two lenses: first, the manner in which the court situated the dispute within the spatial and historical geography of Cape Town; and, secondly, the way in which it prefaced the use value of property through its emphasis on meaning ful participation and on custodianship. Both lenses indicated the duty incumbent on the province as landowner and in service of its obligations under s 25(5) of the Constitution, which are important when resolving similar disputes given the scarred ownership landscape characterising the South African urban and spatial environment.","PeriodicalId":39313,"journal":{"name":"South African law journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70821959","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}