Resource constraints and a child's right to legal representation in civil matters at state expense in South Africa

2011 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-320
Author(s):  
Linda Stewart

AbstractSection 28(1)(h) of the South African Constitution bestows the right on every child to have a legal practitioner assigned to the child by the state, and at state expense, in civil proceedings affecting the child, if substantial injustice would otherwise result. Section 28(1)(h) places a positive duty on the state and the practical implementation of this right is dependent on the state's available resources. is paper enquires whether the criteria laid down by the South African Legal Aid Board may limit the realisation of s 28(1)(h) and if so, to what extent. It includes the question whether it is constitutionally permissible for the state to deny legal representation to children on the exclusive grounds of resource constraints. I commence by examining similar but not exact provisions in the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) to establish whether there are provisions that may inform the extent of the positive duty on the state to provide legal representation at state expense to children. is will be followed by a discussion on the nature and extent of s 28(1)(h) of the Constitution. I then turn to the relevant sections in the Children's Act pertaining to this right and especially s 55 which makes provision that the Legal Aid Board is the appropriate functionary of the state to deal with the realisation of s 28(1)(h). I finally enquire whether the criteria laid down in the Legal Aid Guidelines, 2009 (which include the argument of resource constraints) may justifiably limit this right.

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 286-307
Author(s):  
Fransjohan Pretorius

In investigating the reading practices of Boer combatants during the South African War, diaries, letters, and reminiscences were consulted. The state of literacy reveals a picture of a small number of highly literate men, a larger group of adequately literate men, a still larger group of semi-literates, and the illiterate. Reading matter included the Bible, newspapers, and books. Issues raised are: Did literacy (or illiteracy) influence military decision-making or troop morale? Were certain works making some impact on the battlefield? Was the practical experience the Boers had gained before the war more successful in planning strategy and tactics than literacy?


2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Auwais Rafudeen

This paper examines a South African debate on legislating Muslim marriages in the light of anthropologist Talal Asad’s critique developed in his Formations of the Secular (2003). It probes aspects of the debate under four Asadian themes: (1) the historicity of the secular, secularism, and secularization; (2) the place of power and the new articulations of discourses it creates; (3) the state as the arm of that power; and (4) the interconnections (or dislocations) among law, ethics, and the organic environment (habitus). I argue that Asad illumines the debate in the following ways: (1) by providing a deeper historical and philosophical appreciation of its terms of reference, given that the proposed legislation will be subject to South Africa’s secular Bill of Rights and constitution; (2) by requiring us to examine and interrogate the genealogies of such particular hegemonic discourses as human rights, which some participants appear to present as ahistorical and privileged; and (3) by showing, through the concept of habitus, why this debate needs to go beyond its present piecemeal legal nature and develop an appreciation of the organic linkages among the Shari‘ah, morality, community, and self. Yet inevitable nuances are produced when applying Asad’s ideas to the South African context.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Leslie ◽  
Nishendra Moodley ◽  
Ian Goldman ◽  
Christel Jacob ◽  
Donna Podems ◽  
...  

The article explains the rationale for the development of standards for evaluation practice, the process followed in developing those standards, and how those standards inform the quality assessment of evaluations. Quality assessment of evaluations are conducted as a routine activity of the South African National Evaluation System (NES). The importance of quality assessment for improving the state of evaluation practice in South Africa is illustrated by presenting results from the quality assessments undertaken to date. The paper concludes by discussing the progress on the development of a public Evaluations Repository to manage and provide access to completed evaluations and their quality assessment results, and offering some concluding analytical remarks.


2012 ◽  
Vol 44 (122) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Rudolf Von Sinner

À luz de desafios atuais presentes no espaço público brasileiro, a discussão sobre a presença de crucifixos em tribunais gaúchos e a atuação de políticos evangélicos no Congresso, o artigo propõe-se fazer um primeiro balanço da reflexão sobre uma teologia pública no Brasil. Assim, procura responder à pergunta “o que é teologia pública?” não de forma definitória, inequívoca, uniformizante. Antes, mostra uma variedade de origens do termo e de oportunidades, bem como de perigos contidos neste conceito. Num primeiro passo, o artigo apresenta quatro linhas de abordagem presentes na emergente discussão brasileira. Em seguida, recorrendo ao sul-africano Dirk Smit, mostra a diversidade de origens e usos do conceito em várias partes do mundo. Por fim, procura evidenciar a pertinência e o potencial de uma teologia pública no Brasil – com ousadia e humildade.ABSTRACT: In view of actual challenges present in the Brazilian public space, the discussion on the presence of crosses in courthouses in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, as well as on the activities of evangelical Congressmen, this article ventures into a first balance of reflection on a public theology in Brazil. It seeks to respond to the question “what is public theology?” not with a clear and uniform definition. Rather, it shows a variety of origins and opportunities, as well as dangers contained in the concept. In a first step, the article presents four lines of thought present in the emerging Brazilian discussion. Then, with reference to the South African theologian Dirk Smit, it shows the diversity of origins and uses of the concept in different parts of the world. Finally, it seeks to show the pertinence and the potential of a public theology in Brazil – both with boldness and humility. 


2021 ◽  
pp. 227797602110526
Author(s):  
Marcelo C. Rosa ◽  
Camila Penna ◽  
Priscila D. Carvalho

The article presents a theoretical–methodological proposal to research movements and its connections based on the associations they establish. The first investigation focuses on the transformations of the South African Landless People’s Movement, the second on interactions between Brazilian rural movements and the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform, the third focuses on the transnational ties of the Brazilian National Confederation of Agricultural Workers. We produce an ontological definition of movements and the state as collectives whose existence is defined by continuous assemblages of heterogeneous and unstable elements. Those collectives are not enclosed analytical units, but contingent and contextual. Methodologically, we suggest the observation of the processes in the long term to grasp the continuous constructions of those collectives, even before they reach public expression. Controversies are analytical categories for understanding which elements allow things to take the course we analyze.


1979 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred Gollin

In December 1905 R.B. Haldane, later Viscount Haldane of Cloan, became Secretary of State for War. Among his fellow politicians Haldane, at this time, was looked on as an intriguer who combined habitual meddling in high places with a curious and remarkable interest in German philosophy. The Prime Minister of the day, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, who had good reason to dislike Haldane, nicknamed him “Schopenhauer.” Both men knew that the War Office had ruined the reputations of several of Haldane's predecessors. “We shall now see,” remarked Campbell-Bannerman, in a phrase that later became famous, “how Schopenhauer gets on in the Kailyard.” Despite this unpromising start Haldane's military reforms were so successful that they established his reputation in history as one of the great servants of the state in the pre-1914 era. His work and accomplishments in the field of military aviation, however, have been criticized very severely. In fact, the matter is so complicated that one aviation authority has written of the record in this area that “Haldane's actions behind the scenes may never be known with certainty.”Even some of his closest subordinates in the field of military aeronautics were very critical of Haldane's attitude and outlook. In February 1911 a major step was taken when, by an Army Order, a unit known as the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers was created. This Battalion was entrusted with the duty of training a “body of expert airmen.” The Battalion's first commander was Major Sir Alexander Bannerman, an officer who knew little about airplanes, but was instead a balloon expert with experience in the South African and Russo-Japanese wars.


Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 268
Author(s):  
Wonchul Shin

This paper aims to examine the ambiguity of faith in the intersection of religion and state violence. I pay attention to the state-operated system of apartheid in South Africa and critically analyze the Afrikaner community’s faith that motivated and justified vicious state violence against people of color. I name this faith demonic faith and present two key features of demonic faith in the South African case: idolatrous absolutization and destructive dehumanization. I also examine how the Afrikaners’ demonic faith came to its existence through the complex dynamics of their existential anxieties, desires, and distorted ways to fulfill the desires. I then argue for the ineffaceable possibility of redemptive faith, and theoretically construct how two features of redemptive faith, consisting of courage and empathy, could have empowered the Afrikaners to break the shackles of demonic idolatry and destruction. Redemptive faith is tragically paired with demonic faith, but truth serves as a key criterion to guide us in this tragic ambiguity of faith.


Obiter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Charles Moorhouse ◽  
David Abrahams

The purpose of this article is to put forward submissions regarding the implementation of a weapons review process in compliance of South Africa’s obligations under Additional Protocol I (hereinafter “API”) Article 36. Article 36 requires each state party to determine whether the employment of any new weapon, means or method of warfare that it studies, develops, acquires or adopts would, insome or all circumstances, be prohibited by international law. Article 36 does not specify how such a legal review should be implemented or conducted. Thus this article puts forward proposals regarding both the substantive and procedural aspectsof a review of the legality of weapons, means and methods of warfare that the authors submit best befits the South African context.A background regarding the legal limitations placed upon the use of certain weapons, means and methods of warfare and an explanation of South Africa’s obligations regarding national implementation of a weapons review process, is given in paragraph 1 so as to create an understanding as to why it is necessary for the Republic of South Africa to implement a process to review the legality of weapons, means and methods of warfare. Before the implementation of a weapons review process can be discussed, the subject matter of such a review must first be ascertained. Thus paragraph 2 contains a discussion regarding the definition of the term “weapons, means and methods of warfare” and a determination of which weapons shall form the subject matter of legal reviews. No specific manner of implementation is contained within API and thus it is at the discretion of the state in question, in this case South Africa, to adopt the necessary measures to implement this obligation. In this regard, paragraph 3 contains submissions regarding the status of the review body within the state hierarchy and its method of establishment. This paragraph also contains an explanation of the process by which South Africa acquires its weapons. The legal scope of the review process is dealt with in paragraph 4. Within thisparagraph, the place of both treaty-based law and customary international law (“CIL”) in the South African legal system is discussed. Furthermore, the treaty-law and customary international law rules binding upon South Africa regarding limitations of specific weapons and general weapons limitations are enumerated and the paragraph ends with a discussion of the Martens Clause. 


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