Recently South African Professors John Dugard and Kader
Asmal have been in the news for their opinions for and against the
Khulumani litigation currently before the US Court of Appeals in New York. That
litigation involves claims on behalf of apartheid victims for reparations from
corporate defendants; the argument being that the defendants, as companies,
traded with the apartheid regime and thereby facilitated the crime against
humanity of apartheid...[more]
Written by: Max du Plessis, Senior Research Associate, ICAP, ISS; Associate
Professor, Faculty of Law, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban The writer was
one of the professors that joined Professor Asmal in providing an opinion to the
US Court of Appeals.
From Institute of Security Studies via Polity.org.za
National Director of Public Prosecutions v Zuma
(573/08) [2009] ZASCA 1 (12 Jan 2009)
(1) Criminal procedure – setting aside of indictment – s 179 of the
Constitution – consultation by National Director of Public Prosecutions
when reviewing a prosecutorial decision with accused. (2) Civil
procedure – principles of deciding factual issues in motion
proceedings restated. (3) Judiciary – the limits of judicial decisionmaking
restated.
Isandla Institute and the Open Society Foundation for South Africa
invite you to a Development Dialogue on
Speaking truth to power: Politics and jurisprudence in a
young democracy
Thursday 6
November 2008, 16h30 - 18h00
Centre for the Book, Cape Town
(tea and coffee
served beforehand, please be seated at 16h30)
In
recent months, the role and independence of the judiciary in South Africa
has come under scrutiny. The debate seems to have become polarised around two
extreme perspectives. On the one hand, some hold the view that the judiciary
has involved itself in, and has allowed itself to be influenced by, the
politics of the day. Others, however, are of the opinion that the state and the
ANC have sought to interfere with or compromise/discredit the judiciary, in
particular the Constitutional Court.
What is at stake is the autonomy of the judiciary and its credibility in
speaking truth to power. In our new democracy, what is the relationship between
politics and jurisprudence? Are the checks and balances in place to avoid undue
political interference with the judiciary? And to what extent can the judiciary
tread on the terrain of politics, without fear or favour, but at the same time
without exceeding its mandate?
Justice Dennis Davis (Cape
High Court), Rhoda Kadalie (Impumelelo
Innovations Awards Trust) and Prof Pierre De
Vos (University of the Western Cape,
t.b.c.) have been invited to share their perspectives on these
questions.
The Development Dialogue will be held on
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November 2008 from 16h30-18h00, at the Centre for the Book, 62 Queen
Victoria Street, Cape Town. Tea and coffee are made available between
16h00-16h30. Kindly note that the event will start at
16h30. Afterwards, there will be an opportunity for informal interaction
over drinks and snacks.
If you are interested in attending this event, please
r.s.v.p. on admin@isandla.org.za
by Friday 31 October. You will receive confirmation of your
attendance.