Protecting taxpayer information from the public protector – A ‘just cause’?

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-211
Author(s):  
Fareed Moosa
Keyword(s):  
Shock Waves ◽  
South African ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Criminal Sanction ◽  
Just Cause ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Gain Access

Under the Tax Administration Act, 2011 (TAA), taxpayers enjoy a right to privacy of information disclosed to the South African Revenue Service (SARS). This note shows that tax officials are obliged to protect the secrecy thereof. It is argued that the Commissioner for the SARS correctly resisted compliance with a subpoena issued by the Public Protector for access to the records of former President Jacob Zuma. If it acquiesced without objection, shock waves would have reverberated through South Africa’s tax community. It is contended that the Commissioner’s decision to maintain taxpayer secrecy under pain of a potential criminal sanction contributed to restoring some of the lost confidence and respect for the SARS which has, in recent times, endured reputational damage owing to internal squabbles which morphed into public scandals. This note hypothesises that CSARS v Public Protector is good authority for the proposition that governmental departments and state institutions not expressly mentioned in s 70 of the TAA do not have statutory rights of access to taxpayer information and must, to gain access, follow due process. This note argues that the judgment in casu is not only a victory for taxpayer rights but also for the rule of law.

scholarly journals IN LIGHT OF ‘NKANDLA’, WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE PUBLIC PROTECTOR IN UPHOLDING THE RULE OF LAW IN SOUTH AFRICA?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aadelah Shaik Yakoob
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Economic Freedom ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Freedom Fighters

The focus of this article will be to ascertain what role, if any, the Public Protector plays in achieving and upholding the rule of law as envisaged in section 1(c) of the Constitution. In doing so, I will assess the powers of the Public Protector as envisaged by the Constitution and supporting legislation and analyse the effect of recommendations made by the Public Protector. I will then offer a discussion on certain shortfalls within the legislation that have become a hindrance to the Public Protector achieving her mandate in practice. I will, further, highlight the importance of the powers of the Public Protector as an avenue to achieving the rule of law, and, offer an analysis of the judgments in South African Broadcasting Commission v Democratic Alliance and Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker of the National Assembly. I will, finally, conclude by discussing possible solutions to the challenges faced by the Public Protector in practice and offer a summary of my views.

The Civil Forfeiture of Assets and the War on Drugs: Expanding Criminal Sanctions While Reducing Due Process Protections

1996 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric L. Jensen ◽  
Jurg Gerber
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Due Process ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
Criminal Justice Policy ◽  
Criminal Sanction ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Criminal Sanctions ◽  
Asset Forfeiture ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Due Process Rights

The War on Drugs has resulted in some of the most extensive changes in criminal justice policy since the due process revolution of the 1960s. Asset forfeiture has been used as a criminal sanction but has been camouflaged as a civil procedure, thus in effect limiting the due process rights of those accused. The state has extended its control over citizens and has simultaneously weakened the rights of individuals to protect themselves against state intrusion. The potential for excess with a civil asset forfeiture policy absent adequate due process protections render this policy unacceptable in a society based on the rule of law.

LEGAL ESSENCE OF ANCIENT PROVERBS AND SAYS AND THEIR SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Dranishnikova ◽  
Ivan Semenov
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Social Significance ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Moral Standards ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Status Position

The national legal system is determined by traditional elements characterizing the culture and customs that exist in the social environment in the form of moral standards and the law. However, the attitude of the population to the letter of the law, as a rule, initially contains negative properties in order to preserve personal freedom, status, position. Therefore, to solve pressing problems of rooting in the minds of society of the elementary foundations of the initial order, and then the rule of law in the public sphere, proverbs and sayings were developed that in essence contained legal educational criteria.

Conclusion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fanie du Toit
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The State ◽  
African History ◽  
Divided Societies ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Social Goods ◽  
Forward Looking

Reading South African history through the lens of interdependence helps explain the disappointment that many South Africans feel in relation to reconciliation. While they are justified in feeling let down, owing to rising inequality and social exclusion, it is wrong to blame Mandela’s strategy of just interdependence because it was abandoned too early. In seeking to overcome oppression, reconciliation is forward-looking and predicated on rebuilding relationships in divided societies. Dealing with a violent past is valuable when striving for a more just future. Reconciliation fosters just, inclusive, and fair societies and is locally owned and driven. A progressive approach to reconciliation is also needed. Reconciliation recognizes the inherent interdependence between citizens themselves, and between citizens and the state. These relationships are progressively re-established in more just ways. In so doing, it helps to create conditions in which social goods such as forgiveness, the rule of law, or democracy become possible.

The Rule of Law and the Public Transcript

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 498-518
Author(s):  
Michelle Dionne Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Public

Crisis of the Rule of Law in Europe: The Cases of Hungary, Poland and Spain

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-398
Author(s):  
David Parra Gómez
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Division Of Powers ◽  
European Democracy ◽  
Aggressive Interference

Democracy is an instrument at the service of a noble purpose: to ensure the freedom and equality of all citizens by guaranteeing the civil, political and social rights contained in constitutional texts. Among the great principles on which this instrument rests is the division of powers, which consists, substantially, in the fact that power is not concentrated, but that the various functions of the State are exercised by different bodies, which, moreover, control each other. Well, the increasingly aggressive interference of the Executive and, to a lesser extent, the Legislative in material spheres that should be reserved exclusively for the Judiciary, violates this principle and, for this reason, distorts the idea of democracy, an alarming trend that, for some time now, are observed in European Union countries such as Hungary, Poland and Spain. Preventing the alarming degradation of European democracy, of which these three countries are an example, requires not only more than necessary institutional reforms to ensure respect for these principles and prevent the arbitrariness of the public authorities, but also a media network and an education system that explains and promotes these values and principles, that is, one that makes citizens aware of and defend constitutionalism. Keywords: Rule of law; Democracy; Separation of powers; judicial independence; Europe.

ANALISIS YURIDIS TINDAK PIDANA PENGGELAPAN YANG TIMBUL DARI HUBUNGAN SEWA MENYEWA MOBIL DIKAITKAN DENGAN PASAL 372 KUHP

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-216
Author(s):  
Hurip Agustina ◽  
Dadang Suprijatna ◽  
Aal Lukmanul Hakim
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Criminal Responsibility ◽  
Bottom Layer ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
Public Prosecutor ◽  
Criminal Offense ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Criminal Offenses ◽  
Car Rental

Crime embezzlement car rentals are lately often devastating car rental owner. This is an issue where the meaning of a rule of law if the crime committed community can not be followed by the rule of law, such as crimes by way of evasion is one of the types of crimes against human wealth which is stated in Article 372 of the Criminal Code, which is a crime that does not exist inexhaustible, both from the bottom layer to the top layer of society can also be committing a criminal act embezzlement is a crime that originated from the existence of a trust in others, and that trust is lost because of the lack of an honesty. It is stated that the crime of embezzlement have a problem that is closely linked to attitudes, moral, mental, honesty and trust humans as individuals. The purpose of this study are as follows: 1) To determine and analyze the occurrence of the crime of embezzlement car rental. 2) To know and analyze the application of Article 372 of the Criminal Code the crime of embezzlement in the rental car. 3) To know and analyze the efforts of the police in preventing crime of embezzlement car lease. This study uses normative juridical approach that is used to make the description clear, systematic, transparent and precise about the facts / specific nature of the area and population which is then analyzed to obtain the desired facts. Criminal offense embezzlement rental car can be imprisoned if they meet the overall elements of the offenses charged by the public prosecutor and the offender accountable for his actions. If the offender does not meet one of the elements of which the accused, then it can not be convicted. The elements of criminal responsibility are: 1) committing illegal or criminal acts; 2) for the criminal should be able to be responsible; 3) to have a fault; 4) absence of an excuse. The conclusion from this study is the adoption of Article 372 of the Criminal Code in criminal offenses of embezzlement car rental where the incidence of criminal acts committed tenants for the rented goods belonging to the owner of the rental rights because of misuse or abuse of trust in which the crime of embezzlement are set in the provisions of Article 372 of the Criminal Code.

An exposition of trade policy formulation through the issuing of "Trade Policy Directives" by the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition under the International Trade Administration Act 71 of 2002

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive Vinti
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Trade Policy ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Procedural Rationality ◽  
Abstract Section ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Republic ◽  
A Charge

ABSTRACT Section 5 of the International Trade Administration Act 71 of 2002 (ITAA) provides that the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition has the power to issue "Trade Policy Directives" subject to the procedures and requirements of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Constitution) and other laws. However, there is uncertainty as to how trade policy is formulated under section 5 of the ITAA and the rights of affected parties in this regard. Thus, this article offers an exposition of the process of trade policy formulation under section 5 of the ITAA. To this end, it is my view that trade policy formulation under section 5 must be guided by section 195 of the Constitution, which requires that the public must be "encouraged" to participate in policy formulation and that this must occur in a climate of openness, transparency and accountability. In the narrower sense, it is also my view that interested parties must be given an opportunity to participate in trade policy formulation on the ground of procedural rationality and to avoid a charge of arbitrariness as twin components of the rule of law. Keywords: Trade policy; International Trade Administration Act; rule of law; legality; rationality; arbitrariness; transparency; accountability; governance.

scholarly journals State-building for the market economy in Eastern Europe

2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-491
Author(s):  
Paul Hare
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Law And Economics ◽  
Recent Analysis ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
New States ◽  
The Eu

AbstractKornai's earlier works embodied the idea that state institutions formed a system with a strong tendency to reproduce itself, and hence to resist minor reforms. Thus, at the end of socialism, huge changes were needed in politics, economics, and the law to build a new system oriented towards the market-type economy, which would again be stable, self-reinforcing and self-sustaining. Transition promoted the development of new states in Eastern Europe that conformed to the Copenhagen criteria for the EU accession. Were we too hasty in thinking that we had succeeded? The new systems are not returning to the previous one, and only in a few areas have the basic norms of a market-type economy been set aside in Hungary or Poland. But concerns arise at the interface between politics, law and economics – to do with the rule of law, the nature and role of the state, and the interactions between parliament, the executive and the judiciary. Unavoidably, there is also an interesting international dimension here, represented by the shift from the Warsaw Pact and CMEA to NATO and the EU. This paper explores these issues in the light of some of Kornai's recent analysis of developments in Hungary, while also drawing on his very insightful earlier works.

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