Legal and Public Trust Considerations for the Ndumo Game Reserve and South Africa-Mozambique Border, following the Migration of the Usuthu River

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Blackmore
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
International Law ◽  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Game Reserve ◽  
History Of ◽  
International Boundary ◽  
Alignment Analysis ◽  
Similar Circumstance

The Usuthu River forms part of the international boundary between South Africa and Mozambique. In 2002, this River breached its south bank within the Ndumo Game Reserve and established a new channel within the protected area. In response to the breach, Mozambique proposed the excavation of the floodplain and the establishment of berms to force the flow of the river back into its original alignment. Analysis of the origin and associated history of this portion of the international boundary indicates that it is unlikely that the international boundary has moved with the breech. Furthermore, customary international law pertaining to avulsion or mutation alvei of rivers supports the notion that the international boundary remained in the original channel of the Usuthu River. Finally, case history of a similar circumstance in Africa affirms that this boundary is unlikely to have shifted with the avulsion of the Usuthu River. The Mozambican proposal brings to the fore an array of public trust considerations which are founded in South Africa’sConstitution, and environmental and biodiversity conservation legislation. These considerations prohibit the excavation of the Ndumo Game Reserve. The concept of the state acting as a trustee for, inter alia, biodiversity and protected areas, is reinforced by various water and biodiversity-orientated multilateral agreements to which South Africa is a signatory. Within these, the ones adopted by the Southern African Development Community are the most profound in that they, and specifically the Protocol on Wildlife Conservation and Law Enforcement, enjoin state parties from taking decisions that may cause damage to the trust entity beyond the limits of their sovereignty.

scholarly journals Translocation of White Rhinoceros in South Africa

Oryx ◽  
1967 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Player
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
San Diego ◽  
Major Part ◽  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Large Mammals ◽  
Ceratotherium Simum ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
White Rhinoceros ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ceratotherium Simum Simum

The history of wildlife conservation in Africa is one of dwindling animal populations and shrinking habitats, and the southern white or square-lipped rhinoceros Ceratotherium simum simum became one of the rarest large mammals in Africa. This paper, on which the author's address at San Diego was based, describes one of the most successful operations in wildlife conservation, the build-up n i numbers of the white rhino and the re-population of some of its former range, thanks largely to the use of immobilising drugs. Ian Player, who played a major part in the operations, is Chief Conservator of Zululand.

scholarly journals PROPOSALS REGARDING A WEAPON REVIEW PROCESS IN SOUTH AFRICA (PART 1)

Obiter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Charles Moorhouse ◽  
David Abrahams
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
International Law ◽  
South African ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Review Process ◽  
The State ◽  
The South ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
National Implementation ◽  
The Subject

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. 

South African Law on Immunities

2019 ◽  
pp. 663-684
Author(s):  
Hennie Strydom
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
International Law ◽  
South African ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
African Union ◽  
Regional Organizations ◽  
International Treaty ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Head Of State

This chapter describes South Africa’s law governing the immunity of foreign states and officials, as well as of regional organizations. As the chapter explains, this law is made up of a combination of customary international law, international treaty law, English law, parliamentary legislation, and constitutional law. The chapter begins by describing the domestic status of international law in South Africa. It then describes in detail the 1981 Foreign States Immunities Act, including the various limitations on and exceptions to immunity set forth in the Act. After discussing the immunity of foreign states, it addresses head of state and diplomatic immunities and describes the controversial Bashir case from 2015 concerning a request from the International Criminal Court that South Africa arrest and surrender a sitting head of state. Finally, the chapter discusses the immunity of regional organizations and their staff, in particular the African Union and the South African Development Community.

Grotius, Dio Chrysostom and the ‘Invention’ of Customary ius gentium

Grotiana ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-44
Author(s):  
Francesca Iurlaro
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Rhetorical Strategies ◽  
Main Claim ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Dio Chrysostom ◽  
Hugo Grotius ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
Normative Practice ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ius Gentium

This article tackles the issue of whether and how Hugo Grotius conceives of custom as a formal source of the law of nations. The main claim of it is that not only custom plays a fundamental role in Grotius’s thought, but that his reflections mark a fundamental turning point for the history of customary international law. A crucial role in this process of re-conceptualization is played by Grotius’s reading of Dio Chrysostom, whose oration On custom provides him with an integrated account of custom as a ‘normative practice’ based on rhetorical judgment (as opposed to the Scholastic interpretation of custom as reiteration of voluntary acts). Consequently, I argue that Dio Chrysostom’s text helps Grotius to transpose the question of the normative legitimacy of custom from a moral to an interpretative level. To conclude, I will show that Grotius adopts two different rhetorical strategies to prove the existence of customary norms of ius gentium.

AN EXPLORATION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S TROUBLED RELATIONSHIP WITH UNILATERAL SANCTIONS

2021 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-378
Author(s):  
Rebecca Barber
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Coercive Measures ◽  
History Of

AbstractThis article seeks to make sense of two seemingly contradictory aspects of the General Assembly's practice: its history of recommending to States that they impose unilateral sanctions; and its series of resolutions denouncing unilateral coercive measures as illegal. It examines the seeming discrepancy between the customary international law position regarding unilateral sanctions, and the position asserted by the Assembly, and argues that on a nuanced reading of the Assembly's resolutions, these positions are not so divergent as is often supposed. The article concludes by examining the scope for the Assembly to make future sanctions recommendations, consistently with its prior condemnation of unilateral coercive measures.

Reflecting on South Africa's Attempt to Withdraw from the Rome Statute in Favour of Immunities for Sitting Heads of State: An Analysis of the International Crimes Bill 2017

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-351
Author(s):  
Ntombizozuko Dyani-Mhango
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
International Law ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Heads Of State

This article reflects on South Africa's International Crimes Bill 2017 in relation to the customary international law immunities of sitting heads of states. It revisits the discussion on these immunities and examines their legal status in South Africa. It argues that if South Africa adopts the International Crimes Bill, subject only to the procedural prescripts of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, this will have the effect of recognising customary international law immunities for sitting heads of state in South Africa thereby resolving the legal conundrum arising from the non-recognition of immunities for sitting heads of state.

4 A History of International Investment Treaties

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salacuse Jeswald W
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Foreign Investments ◽  
Foreign Investors ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
Investment Treaties

Since the inception of international investment, foreign investors have sought assurances from the sovereigns in whose territory they invest that their interests will be protected from negative actions by the sovereign and local individuals. This chapter begins with a historical background of the treatification process, which came about due to the perceived weaknesses of customary international law applying to foreign investments. It then discusses the objectives of the movement to negotiate investment treaties; the primary and secondary objectives of investment treaties; long-term goals of investment treaties; the treaty negotiation process; and the consequences of investment treaties, including the growth in investor–state arbitration cases to settle investment disputes.

A History of Maritime Piracy

2021 ◽  
pp. 115-127
Author(s):  
Masha Fedorova ◽  
Piet Hein van Kempen
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Historical Survey ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Maritime Piracy ◽  
Main Thrust ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
History Of

Masha Fedorova and Piet Hein van Kempen eschew explorations of the nature of piracy to focus on whether there is some legal basis for an obligation in conventional and customary international law on states to criminalize piracy, concluding that such an obligation is absent. But the main thrust of the chapter is an historical survey which tries to decipher why this is the case.

scholarly journals Releasing Three Orphaned White Rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum) to the Game Reserve in South Africa. Rehabilitation, Translocation and Post-Release Observations

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2224
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Miazga ◽  
Johan Joubert ◽  
Megan Sinclair ◽  
Anna Cywińska
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rehabilitation Centre ◽  
Ceratotherium Simum ◽  
White Rhinoceros ◽  
Wildlife Rehabilitation ◽  
Game Reserve ◽  
The Status ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
History Of ◽  
One Year

White rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) is one of the most famous victims of poachers in Africa. One of the methods for dealing with decreasing rhino numbers is rehabilitating wounded and/or orphaned animals to successfully release them back into the wild. The status of rescued animal differs among individuals, but general procedures must be established and constantly improved. This study presents the history of successful release of three orphaned white rhino females; rehabilitated for 15 months in Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in a private game reserve in South Africa. Female A was three years old, female B was one year old and the youngest female was three months old on arrival. The animals were rehabilitated together despite the differences in their age and size, with particular attention paid to keeping them as wild as possible. After being weaned and becoming old enough to go back to the wild, they were released at a distance from the rehabilitation centre, which required immobilization and translocation. Since the rhinos were released, they have been successfully living in the wild. All procedures used in this study proved to be sufficient for preparing the animals for life in the wild and can be recommended for other centres.

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