Jurisprudential Analysis of the Right to Life and Dignity: A South African Perspective

Zibele Norless Nodangala – Paul S. Masumbe

Úplný text príspevku

Vydanie vedeckého časopisu číslo 2024-01
Čítať príspevok (PDF)

Typ dokumentu: časopis
Typ príspevku: štúdia
Jazyk príspevku: angličtina
Publikované: 31. 3. 2024
Formát súboru: PDF
Veľkosť súboru: 674 kB

In: Societas et iurisprudentia • 2024 • ročník 12 • číslo 1 • strany 40-60 • ISSN 1339-5467

Abstract: The purpose of the study is to analyse the jurisprudence of the right to life and dignity as fundamentally protected rights in a South African perspective since the dawn of democracy and Constitution of 1996 hereafter referred to as the Constitution. This paper argues that South Africa as a state in applying the Bill of Rights and the Constitution might have encroached or applied laws that may have compromised justice in so far as the impact from the decisions of the courts are concerned. This paper will therefore examine how the courts have interpreted the law and the protection of the non derogable rights of life and dignity post constitutional democracy. The democratic government has a duty to reverse apartheid policies that stemmed from colonial laws. Apartheid laws segregated people and rights were clustered, and selectively applied along racial lines with a tiny majority of European-Africans as sole beneficiaries of rights while the African majority wallow in rightlessness. The authors will examine how the state interprets these fundamental principles of the constitution since the dawn of democracy. The authors hope that the arguments presented in this paper would assist in understanding the moral justification of the decisions in human rights cases in South Africa as the courts battle their way into the realisation of especially non derogable rights as set out in the Bill of Rights.

Key Words: Jurisprudence; Human Dignity; Equality; Constitution; Democracy; Bill of Rights; South Africa.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9725-8910

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9997-4125

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31262/1339-5467/2024/12/1/40-60

URL: https://sei.iuridica.truni.sk/archive/2024/01/SEI-2024-01-Studies-Nodangala-Zibele-Norless-Masumbe-Paul-S.pdf

Toto dielo je licencované pod Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Bibliografická citácia

NODANGALA, Z. N. a P. S. MASUMBE. Jurisprudential Analysis of the Right to Life and Dignity: A South African Perspective. Societas et iurisprudentia [online]. 2024, roč. 12, č. 1, s. 40-60 [cit. 2020-01-01]. ISSN 1339-5467. Dostupné na: https://doi.org/10.31262/1339-5467/2024/12/1/40-60.

Zoznam bibliografických odkazov

ACKERMANN, L. W. H. The Legal Nature of the South African Constitutional Revolution. New Zealand Law Review. 2004, no. 4, pp. 633-679. ISSN 1173-5864.

Aliens Control Act No. 96 [1991].

Case of Carmichele v. Minister of Safety and Security [2001-08-16]. Judgement of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, 2001, CCT 48/00.

Case of Dawood and Another v. Minister of Home Affairs and Others; Shalabi and Another v. Minister of Home Affairs and Others; Thomas and Another v. Minister of Home Affairs and Others [2000-06-07]. Judgement of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, 2000, CCT 35/99.

Case of Ex Parte Minister of Safety and Security and Others: In Re S v. Walters and Another [2002-05-21]. Judgement of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, 2002, CCT 28/01.

Case of Ferreira v. Levin NO and Others; Vryenhoek and Others v. Powell NO and Others [1995-12-06]. Judgement of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, 1995, CCT 5/95.

Case of Freedom of Religion South Africa v. Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and Others [2019-09-18]. Judgement of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, 2019, CCT 320/17.

Case of Furman v. Georgia [1972-06-29]. Opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1972, 408 U.S. 238.

Case of Government of the Republic of South Africa and Others v. Grootboom and Others [2000-10-04]. Judgement of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, 2000, CCT 11/00.

Case of Harksen v. Lane NO and Others [1997-10-07]. Judgement of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, 1997, CCT 9/97.

Case of Malan v. City of Cape Town [2014-09-18]. Judgement of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, 2014, CCT 143/13.

Case of MEC for Education: KwaZulu-Natal and Others v. Pillay [2007-10-05]. Judgement of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, 2007, CCT 51/06.

Case of Minister of Health and Others v. Treatment Action Campaign and Others (No. 2) [2002-07-05]. Judgement of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, 2002, CCT 8/02.

Case of National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality and Another v. Minister of Justice and Others [1998-10-09]. Judgement of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, 1998, CCT 11/98.

Case of Ngomane and Others v. City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and Another [2019-04-03]. Judgement of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa, 2019, 734/2017.

Case of Olmstead v. United States [1928-06-04]. Opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1928, 277 U.S. 438.

Case of President of the Republic of South Africa and Another v. Hugo [1997-04-18]. Judgement of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, 1997, CCT 11/96.

Case of Rail Commuters Action Group and Others v. Transnet Ltd t/a Metrorail and Others [2004-11-26]. Judgement of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, 2004, CCT 56/03.

Case of S v. Jordan and Others [2002-10-09]. Judgement of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, 2002, CCT 31/01.

Case of S v. Lawrence [1997-10-06]. Judgement of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, 1997, CCT 38/96.

Case of S v. Makwanyane and Another [1995-06-06]. Judgement of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, 1995, CCT 3/94.

Case of Sivuka & 328 Others v. Ramaphosa and Others [2022-06-30]. Judgement of the High Court of South Africa, 2022, 36879/2015.

CHASKALSON, A. The Third Bram Fischer Lecture: Human Dignity as a Foundational Value of Our Constitutional Order. South African Journal on Human Rights [online]. 2000, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 193-205 [cit. 2024-02-29]. ISSN 1996-2126. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/02587203.2000.11827594.

Companies Act No. 61 [1973].

Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act No. 108 [1996].

FLETCHER, G. P. Human Dignity as a Constitutional Value. University of Western Ontario Law Review. 1984, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 171-182. ISSN 0703-900X.

FRANKEL, Ph. H. An Ordinary Atrocity: Sharpeville and Its Massacre. 1^st ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. 263 p. ISBN 0-300-09178-8.

Gatherings Act No. 205 [1993].

Insolvency Act No. 24 [1936].

Interim Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act No. 200 [1993].

KLAAREN, J. The Constitutionalist Concept of Justice L Ackermann: Evolution by Revolution. In: N. BOHLER-MULLER, M. COSSER and G. PIENAAR, eds. Making the Road by Walking: The Evolution of the South African Constitution [online]. 1^st ed. Pretoria: Pretoria University Law Press (PULP), 2018, pp. 27-43 [cit. 2024-02-29]. ISBN 978-1-920538-75-0. Available at: https://www.pulp.up.ac.za/images/pulp/books/legal_dialogues/making_the_road_by_walking/Chapter%202%20Making%20the%20Road.pdf.

Legislative and Other Mandate. In: The South African Judiciary [online]. 2024 [cit. 2024-02-29]. Available at: https://www.judiciary.org.za/index.php/ocj/legislative-and-other-mandate.

Naked Man Eviction Case: Officers Cleared of Misconduct Charges, Court Hears. In: News24 [online]. 2021-10-13 [cit. 2024-02-29]. Available at: https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/naked-man-eviction-case-officers-cleared-of-misconduct-charges-court-hears-20211013.

Reflections on Democracy and Human Rights: A Decade of the South African Constitution (Act 108 of 1996) [online]. 1^st ed. Johannesburg: South African Human Rights Commission, 2006. 203 p. [cit. 2024-02-29]. ISBN 0-620-36364-9. Available at: https://www.sahrc.org.za/home/21/files/Reports/Reflection%20of%20democracy%20and%20human%20rights_10%20year%20review_%20200.pdf.

South African Police Service Act No. 68 [1995].

Submission by CASAC to the Marikana Commission of Inquiry: The Role of the South African Police Service in the Marikana Massacre on 16 August 2012 [online]. 1^st ed. Cape Town: Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution, 2013. 36 p. [cit. 2024-02-29]. Available at: http://www.casac.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/CASAC-submission-to-Marikana-Commission.pdf.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights [1948-12-10].

WALDRON, J. The Dignity of Groups. Acta Juridica. 2008, vol. 2008, no. 1, pp. 66-90. ISSN 0065-1346.