scholarly journals The impact of the COVID-19 regulations on rent obligations

De Jure ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue-Mari Viljoen
Keyword(s):  
Common Law ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Rental Sector ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Force Majeure ◽  
Regulatory Measures ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Detrimental Impact

SUMMARY The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the introduction of a range of regulatory measures, which has had a detrimental impact on the rights of South Africans, in general, and specifically the ability of commercial lessees to trade. A large number of commercial lessees were forced to close their businesses for lengthy periods of time, which effectively meant that they were deprived of the use and enjoyment of their leased premises. It is unclear whether such lessees, who have been either partly or absolutely deprived of the use of their premises, should continue to make rental payments. The common law is explored to cast light on this issue, taking account of the use of force majeure clauses and the operation of the lockdown measures as a form of vis maior. The common law position regarding vis maior and its impact on rent obligations is further considered with reference to regulatory measures that were specifically introduced to assist parties that were negatively affected due to the lockdown measures in the commercial rental sector.

Book Reviews, The Common Law Tort of Defamation, and the Suppression of Scholarly Debate

2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 656-670
Author(s):  
Kate Sutherland
Keyword(s):  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Scholarly Work ◽  
Academic Journal ◽  
Canadian Law ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Defamation Law

Professor Joseph Weiler will soon stand trial for criminal libel in France for refusing to remove a book review from a website associated with an academic journal for which he serves as editor. His case has disturbing implications for all those who write, edit, and publish critical scholarly work. In this article, I explore those implications for Canadian scholars at home and as members of a global scholarly community. I assess the likelihood of success of a similar complaint under Canadian defamation law, and I consider the impact of libel chill and libel tourism. I conclude that although the defendant in such a case would have a good chance of prevailing under Canadian law through the defense of fair comment, a threat to academic freedom remains that requires action on the part of individuals and institutions committed to its preservation and enhancement.

13. Misrepresentation

2021 ◽  
pp. 414-470
Author(s):  
André Naidoo
Keyword(s):  
Common Law ◽  
Consumer Contracts ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Impact

This chapter explains the law relating to the requirements and remedies for misrepresentation. The rules that the chapter covers developed originally in the context of all types of contracts. However, more recent legislation has introduced some specific protection for consumers. Consequently, the common law rules and older legislation that the chapter covers are now more applicable to non-consumer contracts, i.e. contracts between businesses and those between private parties. The chapter starts by addressing the kind of false statements that can result in a remedy. It then addresses the common law and legislative remedies that could be available to the innocent party. Finally, the chapter turns to the impact of the more recent consumer legislation before finally examining the extent to which an exemption clause could cover liability for misrepresentation.

20. Human Rights IV: The Impact of the Human Rights Act 1998

2021 ◽  
pp. 528-578
Author(s):  
Ian Loveland
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Common Law ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Status ◽  
Legislative Policy ◽  
Human Rights Act ◽  
Human Rights Act 1998 ◽  
Executive Action ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Impact

This chapter analyses some of the leading cases in which the courts addressed different aspects of the Human Rights Act 1998, and draws out the constitutional implications of the courts’ initial conclusions. The discussions cover the interlinked issues of the extent to which the courts have recognised a distinction between Convention articles and Convention Rights, the approach taken to statutory interpretation mandated by s 3, and the use of Declarations of Incompatibility under s 4; the doctrine of judicial ‘deference’ to legislative policy decisions; the ‘horizontality’ of the Act and its impact on the development of the common law; and the status of proportionality as a ground of review of executive action. The chapter concludes with an assessment of whether the Act has triggered a shift in understandings on the proper scope of the doctrines of the sovereignty of Parliament and the rule of law within the modern constitutional order.

scholarly journals Impact of the Brazilian Accounting Pronouncements Committee’s New Guideline (OCPC 07) on the downsizing of companies’ Notes

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (79) ◽  
pp. 58-72
Author(s):  
Edilene Santana Santos ◽  
Laura Calixto ◽  
Maira Ferreira Bispo
Keyword(s):  
Common Law ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
Equivalent Number ◽  
Disclosure Overload ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Common ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Big Four ◽  
Unique Study

ABSTRACT This article aims to assess the impact of the New Guideline of the Brazilian Accounting Pronouncements Committee (Comitê de Pronunciamentos Contábeis - OCPC 07) on improving formal features (size, readability, and specificity) of Brazilian companies’ Notes. OCPC 07 is one of the world’s first guidelines issued in response to the current demand for the downsizing of companies’ Notes, which according to standard setters and market agents have become too extensive, thus characterizing a disclosure overload. This is a unique study on the subject. The results suggest the effectiveness, although limited, of the new standard in promoting a departure from the habits of secrecy and formalism rooted in centuries of legal-accounting civil law tradition, and indicate that there is still room for complementary improvement initiatives in the form of incentives for firms and increased enforcement. Three complementary methodological approaches are used: (1) an analysis of both the evolution of note size after OCPC 07 and the factors explaining that size and its variation; (2) an examination of indicators of readability, conciseness, and specificity of the note on accounting policies; and (3) a size comparison of the Notes of Brazilian and British companies, a benchmark of the common law tradition. An average reduction of 10% in Note size was found two years after the introduction of Guideline (Orientação) 07 by the (OCPC 07). This downsizing was not generalized, but instead identified only among firms in the Novo Mercado and among those audited by two of the Big Four. Even in firms that reduced their notes by at least 20%, no significant improvements in readability levels could be perceived, nor in habits of copy-pasting the auditors’ templates, which could signal a focus on firms’ real practices in the note on accounting policies. Brazilian Notes remain far from the benchmark and are still 40% longer than British ones, despite an equivalent number of pages being expected.

scholarly journals EMPLOYERS’ STATUTORY VICARIOUS LIABILITY IN TERMS OF THE PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION ACT

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Daleen Millard ◽  
Eugene Gustav Bascerano
Keyword(s):  
Personal Information ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Employment Equity ◽  
Vicarious Liability ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Data Subject ◽  
Responsible Party

A person whose privacy has been infringed through the unlawful, culpable processing of his or her personal information can sue the infringer’s employer based on vicarious liability or institute action based on the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPI). Section 99(1) of POPI provides a person (“data subject”), whose privacy has been infringed, with the right to institute a civil action against the responsible party. POPI defines the responsible party as the person who determines the purpose of and means for processing of personal information of data subjects. Although POPI does not equate a responsible party to an employer, the term “responsible party” is undoubtedly a synonym for “employer” in this context. By holding an employer accountable for its employees’ unlawful processing of a data subject’s personal information, POPI creates a form of statutory vicarious liability.Since the defences available to an employer at common law, and developed by case law, differs from the statutory defences available to an employer in terms of POPI, it is necessary to compare the impact this new statute has on employers. From a risk perspective, employers must be aware of the serious implications of POPI. The question that arises is whether the Act does not perhaps take matters too far.This article takes a critical look at the statutory defences available to an employer in vindication of a vicarious liability action brought by a data subject in terms of section 99(1) of POPI. It compares the defences found in section 99(2) of POPI and the common-law defences available to an employer fending off a delictual claim founded on the doctrine of vicarious liability. To support the argument that the statutory vicarious liability created by POPI is is too harsh, the defences contained in section 99(2) of POPI is further analogised with those available to an employer in terms of section 60(4) of the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (EEA) and other comparable foreign data protection statutes. 

scholarly journals The Legality of Doctrine of Frustration in the Realm of Covid-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-90
Author(s):  
Sheela Jayabalan
Keyword(s):  
Common Law ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
The Novel ◽  
European Contract ◽  
Force Majeure ◽  
The Common ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
European Contract Law

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19-Outbreak”) has a potential impact in the performance of a contract.  If a contract does not contain a force majeure clause, a contracting party may look to the common law doctrine of frustration to relieve it from its obligations.  Unlike force majeure clauses which focuses on the parties' express intention on how to deal with supervening events, frustration is implied by law and thus would only be considered in the absence of an express force majeure clause. In Malaysia, the doctrine of frustration is codified in section 57(2) of the Contracts Act 1957. A doctrinal analogy of the doctrine of frustration and section 57 of the Contracts Act 1950 indicates a pandemic such as the covid-19 would not frustrate a contract. Force majeure clause should be used as a protective tool to prevent losses to the contracting parties or alternatively the Principles of European Contract Law and the Unidroit Principles that make provisions for hardship as well as force majeure should be implemented.   

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