scholarly journals Interpreting for Refugees: “Where practicable and necessary only?”

Refuge ◽  
2013 ◽  
pp. 93-106
Author(s):  
Fatima Khan
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
International Law ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Minimum Requirement ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Court Interpreting ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Right ◽  
Two Stages

Legal interpreting is a highly specialized profession, not simply a function that any bilingual person can perform. Countries that have laws and regulations on court interpreting have them on the basis that everyone (including linguistic minorities) has the right to due process. In South Africa legal interpreting takes place in a variety of state institutions and the Refugee Reception Offices of the Department of Home affairs is one such setting. The present study investigates legal interpreting at asylum determinations and hearings. The focus is on two stages of the asylum application, which are crucial for determining refugee status. This paper aims to explore the right of an asylum seeker to an interpreter at these stages of the status determination procedure. It will also compare this right to the existing right in international law and assess whether South Africa has met the minimum requirement to enable a due process.

scholarly journals State Responsibility and the Question of Expropriation: A Preliminary to the “Land Expropriation without Compensation” Policy in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Hamid Kwarteng ◽  
Thomas Prehi Botchway
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
International Law ◽  
Land Reform ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Foreign Investors ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right

Expropriation is a right granted to States under international law; however this right does not guarantee States to abuse their power to unlawfully seize properties without following due process or paying the right compensation. In August 2018, the president of South Africa proposed a bill that would allow the government to expropriate land without compensation and this bill has attracted the attention of both scholars of international law and foreign investors. With a qualitative approach and a cross sectional analysis of data, this article seeks to analyze the nature of this bill to determine whether it infringes on the principles and practice of international law, as well as the likely consequences that the bill could have on the global image of South Africa and foreign direct investment in the country. The research approach allowed the authors to analyze important literature while making inferences to cases of expropriation in different parts of the world and juxtaposing them with South Africa’s intended policy. The article concludes that one of the main critical issues for determining the lawful nature of expropriation is that it should be accompanied by an appropriate, adequate, effective, and prompt compensation, and as such not only does this bill constitute to a breach of international law but it will also damage the economy by scaring foreign investors away. In addition, the State would be compelled to spend millions of the already limited resources of the country in defending itself against international lawsuits that will be filed by affected individuals. It is thus suggested that a much better approach for land reform should be adopted by the government in its quest for development.

The Status of Indigenous Peoples under International Law: Greenland and the Right to Self-Determination

1995 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 243-257
Author(s):  
Frederik Harhoff
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
De Se ◽  
The Status ◽  
Droit International ◽  
The Right ◽  
Peuples Autochtones

SommaireL'autodétermination des peuples autochtones suscite la controverse en droit international contemporain depuis que le processus de décolonisation s'est achevé, à la fin des années 1960. Parce qu’ils craignaient avant tout des désordres nationaux, de nombreux pays ont refusé de reconnaître que les peuples autochtones ont le droit de se séparer du territoire national et d'obtenir leur indépendance. Cependant, même la reconnaissance d'un droit moins vaste, soit un droit de recevoir un statut spécial et d'obtenir l'autonomie politique dans le cadre des frontières étatiques existantes, demeure une question litigieuse, car aucune définition claire des bénéficiaires et de la substance de ces droits ne peut être établie. De toute façon, la disparité des conditions politiques, économiques, sociales et climatiques dans lesquelles vivent les peuples autochtones du monde entier rend futile la création d'un seul et unique concept d'autodétermination qui s'appliquerait au monde entier. Pour sortir de cette impasse, on propose d'adopter une approche procédurale, au lieu d'essayer de fixer ces questions dans des termes juridiques stricts.Le fait de qualifier le concept d'autodétermination de processus, au lieu de le décrire comme étant une série de règles exactes et préétablies, a pour avantage d'apporter un élément de flexibilité, car il permet aux deux parties, c'est-à-dire les États et les peuples autochtones, de trouver des appuis pour défendre leurs intérêts et d'imaginer une solution viable qui tienne compte des circonstances particulières de chaque cas. Mais toutes les parties concernées devraient tout d'abord accepter trois conditions préalables:(1) Le droit de sécession immédiate et d'indépendance complète, en tant qu'aspect du droit à l'autodétermination, devrait être réservé aux peuples autochtones des territoires d'outre-mer.(2) Les États ont le devoir de favoriser l'autonomie de leurs peuples autochtones et le fardeau de prouver qu 'ih offrent la plus grande autonomie possible aux peuples autochtones vivant sur leurs territoires.(3) Une fois que des ententes relatives à l'autonomie ont été conclues, les États ne peuvent pas les révoquer, les abréger ou les modifier unilatéralement.L'auteur de cette note examine ensuite le régime d'autonomie du Groenland et conclut que ce régime semble satisfaire aux critères énoncés, bien que la question du statut actuel du Groenland (et des îles Faroe) au sein du royaume danois demeure incertaine sur le plan constitutionnel. Le régime d'autonomie implique un transfert irrévocable des pouvoirs législatifs et administratifs des autorités danoùes aux autorités du Groenland, ce qui a pour effet de créer un régime juridique indépendant au Groenland. Par ailleurs, il est entendu que le régime d'autonomie du Groenland permet d'établir un système judiciaire indépendant, si les tribunaux danois du Groenland ne reconnaissent pas la validité de la Loi d'autonomie du Groenland.

THE EVOLUTION IN SPANISH LAW OF STATE IMMUNITY LEADING TO THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE RESTRICTIVE THEORY

1992 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-81
Author(s):  
Alberto Soria Jiménez
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
Spanish Law ◽  
State Immunity ◽  
Due Process Of Law ◽  
The Right

SUMMARY Judgment 107/1992 of the Spanish Constitutional Court has not only cleared up any possible doubts about the alleged unconstitutionality of State immunities and it has discarded any possible contradictions that these immunities might have with art. 24.1 of the Spanish Constitution.. Judgment 107/1992 has also directly linked the right to due process of law with the correct jurisdictional application of the international rules to which art. 21.2 of the LOPJ remits. The Constitutional Court feels that extending immunity from enforcement to foreign State property beyond the provisions of Public International Law violates the right to due process because it limits the right to enforcement of judgments without any legal support. On the other hand, the Constitutional Court points out that when the rules of Public International Law impose absolute immunity from enforcement, the aforementioned right is not violated. That in these cases, this right might be guaranteed by diplomatic protection or, as a last resort, by an assumption by the forum State of its duty to satisfy judicially mandated obligations when the absence of enforcement of these might imply undue sacrifice for an individual contrary to the principle of equality before public burdens. Therefore it seems wise for the Spanish State to establish some procedure which would prevent the recognition of immunity would also be highly recommendable for Spain to enact a statute containing a list of exceptions to State immunity as soon as possible. It is the executive branch, therefore, that should resolve this situation by proposing a bill on this issue and perhaps, as a complementary measure, by ratifying the European Convention on State Immunity.

scholarly journals South African Private Security Contractors Active in Armed Conflicts: Citizenship, Prosecution and the Right to Work

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Shannon Bosch ◽  
Marelie Maritz
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
South African ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Private Security ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
The South ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Right ◽  
Security Contractors

South Africa has adopted two pieces of legislation since 1998 aimed at restricting one of the fastest growing sectors of the global economy: the private security industry. Not only is this legislation completely unique, but it appears wholly at odds with international opinion. In this article we place private security contractors (PSCs) under the microscope of international law, exploring the role they play in armed conflicts, and the status afforded them by international humanitarian law (IHL). We address the issue of prohibited mercenarism, questioning whether PSCs should be categorised as mercenaries. We then shift our focus to the South African legislation and discuss the ambit of its application as compared with international law obligations to outlaw mercenaries. We discuss the likelihood of successful prosecution of PSCs, and the potential penalties that PSCs might face in terms of the South African legislation. Lastly we consider the constitutional challenges which might emerge as this legislation, and a proposed amendment to the South African Citizenship Act threaten the constitutionally protected rights of South African PSCs to practise a profession and enjoy citizenship.

Part 1 The Cold War Era (1945–89), 31 South African Incursions into Lesotho—1982

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinold Theresa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
International Law ◽  
South African ◽  
Progressive Development ◽  
Self Defense ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
Legal Arguments ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Cold War

This chapter discusses the legality of South Africa’s incursion in Lesotho in 1982. After describing the facts of the case, it presents the legal arguments of the main protagonists – South Africa and Lesotho - and canvasses the positions taken by the UN General Assembly, the UN Security Council, as well as other important diplomatic players. It then assesses the legality of the intervention and discusses its impact on the progressive development of international law. It concludes that the incursion violated Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and that, in light of the overwhelmingly negative international reaction, the raid could not trigger an expanded reading of the right to self-defense, as was claimed by South Africa.

Part I The UNDRIP’s Relationship to Existing International Law, Ch.1 Who Are ‘Indigenous Peoples’?: An Examination of Concepts Concerning Group Membership in the UNDRIP

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Castellino Joshua ◽  
Doyle Cathal
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
The People ◽  
The Status ◽  
United Nations Declaration ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Continuum

This chapter assesses the question of the people and peoples to whom the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) applies, tracking the concepts of person, persons, groups, people, and peoples in international law, and the UNDRIP's contribution to these concepts. The opening section of the chapter illustrates that the status of indigenous peoples in customary international law stands closer to peoples in the continuum between minorities and peoples. Minorities, while gaining the right to protection and promotion of their group identity, do not automatically gain the right to self-determination. Indigenous peoples ought to, but their rights towards this are constrained by state interests.

Justiciability of the Right to Health in South Africa and Switzerland through the Lens of its Normative Components

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Jennifer Hasselgård-Rowe ◽  
Emmanuel Kabengele Mpinga
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
International Law ◽  
Right To Health ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
Essential Components ◽  
Judicial Proceedings ◽  
The Right ◽  
Health Rights ◽  
Frequent Reference

Despite the recent interest in health rights litigation, there has not yet been a study specifically addressing and comparing the justiciability of the right to health in two diverse contexts such as South Africa and Switzerland from the point of view of determining whether the essential components of the right to health under international law have been referred to in the formulation of complaints and in judgments handed down by the courts. The respective constitutional provisions incorporating the right to health as well as pertinent health rights cases were identified before analysing the similarities and differences relating to the essential components of the right to health. The findings support more frequent reference to the normative components of the right to health throughout domestic judicial proceedings in order to further the advancement and effective implementation of the right to health, not only in South Africa and Switzerland but more broadly.

scholarly journals Kant's Cosmopolitan Law: World Citizenship for a Global Order

1998 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 72-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Kleingeld
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
World Order ◽  
Public Law ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Just World ◽  
World Citizenship ◽  
The Status ◽  
Cosmopolitan Law ◽  
The Right

In debates over the conditions for a just world order, one hears frequent appeals to Kant's call for states to unite in a federation. Given the force of Kant's arguments and their influence on the shape of such institutions as the League of Nations and the United Nations, this is certainly justified. But an essential part of what Kant saw as necessary for a global legal order is usually neglected. What is overlooked is Kant's emphasis on the status of individuals under what he calls ‘cosmopolitan law’. Cosmopolitan law is concerned not with the interaction between states, but with the status of individuals in their dealings with states of which they are not citizens. Moreover, it is concerned with the status of individuals as human beings, rather than as citizens of states. In Kant's political theory, cosmopolitan law (Weltbürgerrecht) is the third category of public law, in addition to constitutional law and international law. Its core is what Kant calls a right to hospitality. He argues that states and individuals have the right to attempt to establish relations with other states and their citizens, but not a right to enter foreign territory. States have the right to refuse visitors, but not violently, and not if it leads to their destruction. This implies an obligation to refrain from imperialist intrusions and to provide safe haven for refugees.

How Conditional Amnesties Can Assist Transitional Societies in Delivering on the Right to the Truth

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Julian Sarkin
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Transitional Societies ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Right ◽  
Legal Consequences ◽  
Made In

This article explores how conditional amnesties can assist post-conflict societies to recover truth. It examines how such amnesties can be used optimally to achieve the best results as part of transitional justice mechanisms. Thus, a central question is to see how amnesties can be used for truth recovery purposes. For that reason, the status and role of amnesties, and whether such amnesties can be used to learn more about the past and assist in truth recovery is explored. The article explores what amnesties are, how prevalent they are and how amnesties can be used optimally to achieve the best results. An issue that is also explored is whether amnesties are needed for perpetrators to participate in transitional justice mechanisms. The argument that is made, in this regard, is that amnesty is absolutely necessary to persuade perpetrators to testify. If they do not have such legal protection, perpetrators fear the legal consequences that may result if they admit to crimes for which they have not been charged. Another question that is examined concerns whether amnesties, and specifically conditional amnesties, pass international law muster. This article therefore investigates the continual and extensive use of amnesty to determine whether a conditional amnesty violates international law. The article suggests how a conditional amnesty process could be structured and what difficulties such a process should avoid if perpetrators are to enter such a process.

scholarly journals Origin, establishment and development of the idea of self-determination of peoples

2021 ◽  
pp. 60-73
Author(s):  
Azer Kagraman Ogly Kagramanov
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Territorial Integrity ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Right

The subject of this research is the examination of evolution of the idea of self-determination of peoples based on the fundamental works of the Russian and foreign scholars, thinkers of the antiquity and modernity. The author considers the transformations experienced by the principle of self-determination at various historical stages of development; as well as builds a corresponding systems of the development cycles. The conclusion is made that after conception of the idea of self-determination, the colonial powers viewed this concept as ethical, seeing the threat to legitimacy of the established order. Therefore, throughout almost a century, the leading countries refused to include this right into the corresponding international and domestic documents. The main conclusions are as follows: after consolidation of the principle in the Charter of the United Nations, it became the foundation for the emergence of news states and destruction of the colonial world; the principle served as a leitmotif for the development of human rights and international relations, but at the same time became a threat and challenge to the territorial integrity; wars between the countries are replaced with the civil and interethnic conflicts; the world is captured with such phenomena as state nationalism that subsequently grew into extremely radical forms, such as fascism and Nazism; the modern international law actively promotes the two competing principles – territorial integrity and self-determination; in modern world, the right to self-determination is not limited by peoples under the colonial past – there occur new forms of self-determination that threaten the existence of sovereign states. Uncertainty of the status of the newly emerged states formations serves as the source of domestic and international tension, which inevitably leads to intergovernmental clashes and negatively impacts geopolitical situation in separate regions and in the world as a whole.

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