Revisiting the role of the judiciary in enforcing the state’s duty to provide access to the minimum core content of socio-economic rights in South Africa and Kenya

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 60-89
Author(s):  
Justice Alfred Mavedzenge

Although the realisation of the full scope of each socio-economic right is meant to be achieved progressively, Kenya and South Africa have an international obligation to immediately provide vulnerable persons with access to the minimum core of each of these rights. As revealed (again) by the COVID-19 pandemic, the two states are in violation of this obligation as millions of people in both countries are living in abject poverty, without access to the bare necessities. Attempts to enforce the government’s minimum core obligations have failed at least three times in South Africa, and the Court of Appeal in Kenya has hesitated to enforce these obligations. Relying on the doctrinal review of jurisprudence from both countries and international law, this article proposes that, in order to enforce the minimum core obligations without violating the separation of powers doctrine, the judiciary must be perceived to have a primary role and a secondary role. The primary role of the court must be to enforce meaningful engagement between the state and the rights bearers in determining the quantitative aspects of the minimum core content of each right. Once the state has developed this core content, the court can review its reasonableness by measuring it against the qualitative minimum standards imposed by the right. In circumstances of urgent need, where the state has failed to develop a reasonable quantitative minimum core content and rights bearers are in danger of suffering irreparable harm, the court should invoke its secondary role which entails setting the quantitative minimum core content to be provided by the state as a temporary measure.

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 190
Author(s):  
Christoph Enders

The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany did originally not provide for social or economic rights understood as claims to benefits. The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) did, indeed, recognise the states obligation to protect individuals against assault by others (right to security) and further ruled that everyone has the right to use facilities provided by the state under equal conditions (right to participation). These rights, however, aim to ensure that the state uses existing means as intended. In addition, the FCC by now has recognised a “right to the guarantee of a dignified minimum subsistence”. It is an original entitlement as the state is obliged to create and provide benefits for individuals in need. This new legal construction, however, misconceives the division of responsibilities between the FCC and the legislator and collides with the principle of the separation of powers


Author(s):  
I Mc Murray ◽  
L Jansen Van Rensburg

Children being the most vulnerable members of society are the one's most affected by living in poverty. This unacceptable situation can inter alia be attributed to the disastrous effects of Apartheid. During this unfortunate period in our nation's history millions of people were unjustly evicted from their homes and forced to live in deplorable conditions. Moreover, many of these people were left homeless or without the necessary adequate shelter. Children who were born into these circumstances were denied basic resources such as proper shelter, food, water and health care services. These unfortunate circumstances existed at the adoption of South Africa 's democratic Constitution. The preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa , 1996 reaffirms government's commitment to heal the inequalities of the past and improve the quality of life of all citizens. The Constitution is based on certain fundamental values, most importantly, human dignity, freedom and equality. The fact that these values are denied to those people living without access to basic resources such as adequate housing/shelter, food, water or health care services cannot be dismissed. To facilitate South Africa 's development as a democratic state based on human dignity, freedom and equality, the problem of poverty must be addressed. The Constitutional Court , in Government of the Republic of South Africa and Others v Grootboom and Others 2000 11 BCLR 1169 (CC), has recently stated that the effective realisation of socio-economic rights is key to the advancement of a value based democratic South Africa . Section 26 of the Constitution grants everyone the right to have access to adequate housing and section 28 that grants every child the additional right to basic shelter among others. By virtue of section 28(1)(b) the primary responsibility to provide children with the necessary adequate housing/shelter is vested in their parents, unless the parents are unable to fulfil their duty or the children are removed from their care. This does not in the least mean that the state has no responsibilities to children living with their parents. The state must still provide the framework in which parents can facilitate the realisation of their children's rights. The state can fulfil this obligation by taking reasonable legislative and other measures within its available resources to realise everyone's right of access to adequate housing progressively.  Therefore, it is submitted that the measures taken to realise section 26 also indirectly ensures the realisation of children's right to basic shelter (section 28(1)(c)). It has been largely accepted by the courts and academics alike that all fundamental human rights are indivisible and interrelated. Clearly then, the state's obligations in terms of section 28(1)(c) cannot be properly interpreted without referring to the interpretation of those obligations conferred upon it by section 26(2) and the other socio-economic rights in the Constitution. Hence, section 28(1)(c) must be seen in the context of the Constitution as a whole. Put simply, the state must take reasonable legislative and other measures within its available resources to realise children's right to basic housing/shelter progressively. This article will focus on the utilisation of the right to shelter of the child to alleviate poverty. Essential to this discussion is an effective understanding of the right to basic shelter as entrenched by section 28 of the Constitution in conjunction with the right of access to adequate housing conferred on everyone by virtue of section 26. This will be achieved by studying the general working of such rights including their limitations and enforcement. 


Author(s):  
Lorette Arendse

In South Africa many learners are denied the right to basic education because of the levying of school fees and other educational charges, in spite of the international obligation imposed on government to provide free primary education. This article examines the exact nature and extent of this obligation by exploring the concept of "free" basic education. The applicable international instruments and their interpretation as well as the significance of the right to education as a central, facilitative right are examined in order to establish the content of the right to basic education and the legal obligations that ensue. Against this background, the implications of the South African Constitutional Court's approach to the realisation of socio-economic rights and the possibility of  the establishment of a core minimum obligation are analysed. It is argued that learners in South Africa may come from different socio-economic backgrounds but as learners in the same public school domain and as equal bearers of their constitutional right to basic education all of them are entitled to the same type and quality of free basic education.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-108
Author(s):  
Dinda Izzati

Evidently, a few months after the Jakarta Charter was signed, Christian circles from Eastern Indonesia submitted an ultimatum, if the seven words in the Jakarta Charter were still included in the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution, then the consequence was that they would not want to join the Republic of Indonesia. The main reason put forward by Pastor Octavian was that Indonesia was seen from its georaphical interests and structure, Western Indonesia was known as the base of Islamic camouflage, while eastern Indonesia was the basis for Christian communities. Oktavianus added that Christians as an integral part of this nation need to realize that they also have the right to life, religious rights, political rights, economic rights, the same rights to the nation and state as other citizens, who in fact are mostly Muslims. This paper aims to determine and understand the extent to which the basic assumptions of the Indonesian people view the role of Islam as presented in an exclusive format.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lufuluvhi Maria Mudimeli

This article is a reflection on the role and contribution of the church in a democratic South Africa. The involvement of the church in the struggle against apartheid is revisited briefly. The church has played a pivotal and prominent role in bringing about democracy by being a prophetic voice that could not be silenced even in the face of death. It is in this time of democracy when real transformation is needed to take its course in a realistic way, where the presence of the church has probably been latent and where it has assumed an observer status. A look is taken at the dilemmas facing the church. The church should not be bound and taken captive by any form of loyalty to any political organisation at the expense of the poor and the voiceless. A need for cooperation and partnership between the church and the state is crucial at this time. This paper strives to address the role of the church as a prophetic voice in a democratic South Africa. Radical economic transformation, inequality, corruption, and moral decadence—all these challenges hold the potential to thwart our young democracy and its ideals. Black liberation theology concepts are employed to explore how the church can become prophetically relevant in democracy. Suggestions are made about how the church and the state can best form partnerships. In avoiding taking only a critical stance, the church could fulfil its mandate “in season and out of season” and continue to be a prophetic voice on behalf of ordinary South Africans.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 112-152
Author(s):  
Busiso Helard Moyo ◽  
Anne Marie Thompson Thow

Despite South Africa’s celebrated constitutional commitments that have expanded and deepened South Africa’s commitment to realise socio-economic rights, limited progress in implementing right to food policies stands to compromise the country’s developmental path. If not a deliberate policy choice, the persistence of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms is a deep policy failure.  Food system transformation in South Africa requires addressing wider issues of who controls the food supply, thus influencing the food chain and the food choices of the individual and communities. This paper examines three global rights-based paradigms – ‘food justice’, ‘food security’ and ‘food sovereignty’ – that inform activism on the right to food globally and their relevance to food system change in South Africa; for both fulfilling the right to food and addressing all forms of malnutrition. We conclude that the emerging concept of food sovereignty has important yet largely unexplored possibilities for democratically managing food systems for better health outcomes.


Jurnal Akta ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 463
Author(s):  
Muslim Ansori ◽  
Akhmad Khisni

With the enactment of the Education System Act no 20 of 2003 (better known as the Sisdiknas Act), the State has determined that educational institutions should have a legal umbrella in the form of a legal entity, or better known as the Legal Entity Education. As a non-profit organization, the Foundation is the right legal entity that becomes a place for educational institutions, especially private schools. Therefore, of course, Notary has a very crucial role in making notary deed in the form of establishment and deed of change, such as example how in making the right basic budget and not multi interpresatasi for stake holders in the foundation. Therefore, the role of function and authority of the organ of the foundation must be clearly stated in the articles of association, so as not to cause a dispute in the future.KEYWORDS: Notaries, Foundation, Organ Foundation,


1993 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Strauss

The ruling National Party (N.P.) asked white voters during the 1989 election campaign for a mandate to negotiate with all concerned about a new constitution, an undivided South Africa, one citizenship, equal votes, protection of minorities, and the removal of stumbling blocks such as discrimination against people of colour.1 Although the N.P. achieved a cleat majority – 93 seats against 39 for the Conservative Party (C.P.) and 33 for the Democratic Party (D.P.) – the right-wing opposition made destinct progress by gaining 17 seats. After the C.P had captured a further three from the N.P. in by-elections, including Potchefstroom in February 1992, President F. W. de Klerk announced in Parliament that whites would be asked the following month to vote in a referendum in order to remove any doubts about his mandate. The carefully worded question which the electorate had to answer was as follows: Do you support continuation of the reform process which the State President began on February 2, 1990 and which is aimed at a new constitution through negotiation?


Jurnal Akta ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 275
Author(s):  
Rifki Yusuf ◽  
Maryanto Maryanto

ABSTRAK Kabupaten Pekalongan merupakan lokasi yang memiliki potensi tinggi dalam penggunaan Surat Kuasa Membebankan Hak Tanggungan (SKMHT), hal ini disebabkan oleh gencarnya pembangunan oleh masyarakat yang membutuhkan dana besar yang antara lain berasal dari kredit yang diperoleh dengan menggunakan lembaga Hak Tanggungan yang selanjutnya menimbulkan berbagai masalah seperti apabila debitor wanprestasi. BTN selaku kreditor dalam pemberian KPR bersubsidi kepada debitor umumnya tidak menguasai benda yang menjadi jaminan kredit secara fisik, tetapi hanya memiliki hak kebendaan secara administratif. Pengikatan obyek jaminan yang berupa tanah, yaitu Hak Milik, Hak Guna Bangunan dan Hak Guna Usaha, prosesnya hanya sampai dengan Surat Kuasa Membebankan Hak Tanggungan (SKMHT) saja, dengan tidak dibebankan Hak Tanggungan atas obyek jaminan tersebut, maka BTN belum memiliki hak kebendaan atas jaminan tersebut secara faktual.Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengkaji dan menganalisis peran notaris dalam hal debitor wanprestasi, penggunaan SKMHT yang tidak diikuti APHT dalam hal debitor wanprestasi terkait dengan pemberian fasilitas Kredit Pemilikan Rumah Subsidi pada Bank Tabungan Negara serta upaya pihak Bank Tabungan Negara dalam hal debitor wanprestasi terhadap pemberian fasilitas Kredit Pemilikan Rumah. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode analisis kualitatif, yaitu data yang diperoleh disusun secara sistematis kemudian dianalisis secara kualitatif agar dapat diperoleh kejelasan masalah yang akan dibahas.Dalam penelitian ini disimpulkan bahwa dalam menghadapi debitor wanprestasi Bank BTN mengambil langkah melakukan penjualan kembali dengan menggunakan kuasa menjual yang tercantum dalam akta “Pengakuan Hutang”, serta peningkatan SKMHT ke APHTkepada calon debitor, dan peran notaris yang hanya sebagai pembuat akta sehingga tidak turut serta jika terjadi wanprestasi.Kata kunci: Notaris, SKMHT, APHT, wanprestasi ABSTRACTPekalongan Regency is a location that has a high potential in the use of Power of Attorney Charging the Guarantee Right (SKMHT), this is caused by incessant development by people who need big fund which among others comes from the credit obtained by using the Mortgage Institution which further cause various problems such as if the debtor is defaulted. BTN as a creditor in the granting of subsidized KPR to the debtor generally does not control objects that become credit for physical security, but only have the right of property administratively. The binding of the object of collateral in the form of land, namely Right of Ownership, Building Rights and Cultivation Right, the process is only up to the Power of Attorney Charging the Guarantee Right (SKMHT) only, without the burden of the Guaranteed Fund on the object of the guarantee, BTN has no material right the guarantee is factual.The purpose of this study is to examine and analyze the role of a notary in the case of debtor wanprestasi, the use of SKMHT not followed APHT in the case of debtor wanprestasi associated with the provision of Subsidized House Ownership Credit in the State Savings Bank and the efforts of the State Savings Bank in the case of debt defaulting to the grant Housing Loan facility. The method used in this study is the method of qualitative analysis, the data obtained is arranged systematically and then analyzed qualitatively in order to obtain clarity of issues to be discussed.In this study it is concluded that in the face of debtor wanprestasi Bank BTN take steps to resell by using the power of sale which stated in deed "Recognition of Debt", and increase SKMHT to APHT to debitor candidate, and notary role which only as deed maker so do not participate if there was a default.Keywords: notary, SKMHT, APHT, wanprestasi


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