Law, Democracy & Development

Written by The Editors,

The first issue of Law, Development &: Democracy (LDD) is devoted to a subject that has been extensively debated over the last two years - the Labour Relations Act of 1995 (LRA). Is there anything to add to what has already been said? As this is our first issue, a word or two about the contribution we hope to make and the approach we intend to follow - both in relation to this Act, and in future issues - might be in order.

Written by The Editors,

Law Democracy &. Development (LDD) is privileged to publish in this issue a selection of papers emanating from a study of co-determinist structures at different levels of South African society, commissioned in mid-1996 by the National Labour and Economic Development Institute (NALEDI), a research institute associated with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).

Written by The Editors,

In this edition of Law, Democracy and Development the focus falls on two broad themes - the realisation of socio-economic rights and the public funding of political parties during the upcoming election in May 1999. The inclusion of socio-economic rights in the South African Constitution of 1996 set a new benchmark internationally for the formulation and enforcement of these rights.

Written by The Editors,

This issue of Law, Democracy and Development introduces a number of exciting changes and developments: Its status has been elevated to that of official journal of the Faculty of Law at the University of the Western Cape. Its mission has been broadened to include international, continental and regional developments.

Written by The Editors,

In this edition of Law Democracy and Development the focus is on transitional justice specifically in the African context. Transitional justice is a key area of focus and specialisation at the Law Faculty of the University of the Western Cape because as the twenty-first century begins, transitions from repressive rule to democracy have become a worldwide phenomenon, In many cases, the displaced regimes have been characterised by massive violations of human rights, Dealing with these past injustices is a crucial test for a new democratic order.

Written by The Editors,

In this edition of Law, Democracy and Development salient areas of social security in South Africa are discussed. Certain overarching themes, which have a bearing on all the branches of social security, are dealt with separately - the conceptual framework, scope of application, constitutional issues, judicial protection and enforcement, and international and comparative standards.

Written by Sarkin, Jeremy,

Crime and criminal violence are probably the most important obstacles to public acceptance of human rights. This can certainly undermine the achievement of a human rights culture in South Africa's young democracy.

Written by Cameron, Edwin,

We speak about 'the AIDS crisis' in South Africa. The crisis has three distinct but inter-related components, each stemming from and exacerbating the other.

Written by Liebenberg, Sandra,

The Bill of Rights in South Africa's 1996 Constitution has been internationally lauded for its inclusion of an impressive array of justiciable socio-economic rights. 2002 was the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution.

Written by The Editors,

This is the second issue of a special two-issue edition of Law, Democracy & Development featuring the papers that formed part of a research project on the implications of the socio-economic rights in the Constitution for social change in South Africa. For the full editorial introducing this special edition, please refer to the companion edition: Volume 6, 2002(2).

Written by The Editors,

With the adoption of South Africa's 1996 Constitution, local government was given a new status as a distinctive, interdependent and interrelated sphere of government. As the closest sphere of government to the people, an elaborate legal framework was constructed to give effect to its developmental role.

Written by Van Reenen, Tobias and Jean-Yves Cherot,

The articles in this special collection are selected from papers presented at an international colloquium held at the University of the Western Cape 13-15 August 2003, entitled "The Aix-UWC Colloquium on the Regional Realisation of Socio-economic Rights: A European and Southern African Perspective". The colloquium represented the culmination of a joint research project between the Faculties of Law at UWC and Paul Cezanne University (Aix-Marseille III), France.

Written by The Editors,

Social inequality in South Africa embodies a crisis of national proportions. No society can hope for enduring stability, let alone growth, if large numbers of its citizens are consigned to poverty and iliteracy while a small minority enjoy extremes of wealth. It is no longer simply a racial dichotomy; the Gini coefficient is at its highest within the African population group.

Written by The Editors,

2004 saw the promulgation - at last - of the bulk of the Correctional Services Act of 1998, which was intended to bring correctional standards in line with the Constitution of 1996. But in March 2005, the Department of Correctional Services released a new White Paper, setting a new agenda for prisons and prisoners in South Africa.

Written by The Editors,

This edition of LDD is in large part devoted to an assessment of the manner in which the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (the LRA) has been interpreted and applied since it took effect in November 1996. Five of the articles are based on papers delivered at a seminar initiated by the Social Law Project at the University of the Western Cape and organised jointly with the Faculty of Law at the University of Stellenbosch and with the Institute for Development and Labour Law at the University of Cape Town, which took place at the faculty of Law, University of Stellenbosch on 31 March and I April 2005.

Written by The Editors,

Written by Asmal, Kader,

As former Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs put it, 'a Bill of Rights should speak out from the soul the fundamental rights that belong to every human being and shouldn't be a list of items gleaned from an encyclopedia or legal dictionary or text book'. In this remarkable editorial, former Minister of Education Kader Asmal describes the origins of the ANCÆs proposed Bill of Rights in the 1980s, when he and Albie Sachs were asked to prepare a preliminary draft.

Written by The Editors,

This issue of LDD is memorable for two reasons. First, it marks the end of our first decade of publication and the start of the second. Much has happened in the field of socio-legal development during this period, and much of it has been reflected in the pages of LDD. The articles, many by leading national and international experts, were often of outstanding quality and are being cited with increasing regularity. To make this body of research and analysis more accessible, a ten-year index has been compiled with details of all articles published.

Written by The Editors,

This edition of Law, Democracy and Development covers a wide range of topics, from the principles applicable to the international transfer of children via the adoption process, to the balancing of a mortgagee’s security interest with a homeowner’s security of tenure. The diversity of sources of law covered in the articles is remarkable, including the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the South African Constitution, international conventions in respect of children’s rights, national legislation, and decisions of the South African Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal as well as other courts in Africa. The policies that guide these laws or flow from them are also closely examined in the articles. In addition, there are articles of a primarily theoretical nature.

Written by The Editors,

This special issue of LDD is brought out in association with DITSELA (Development Institute for Training, Support and Education for Labour), the education and training arm of South Africa’s three main trade union federations COSATU (the Congress of South African Trade Unions), FEDUSA (the Federation of Unions of South Africa) and NACTU (the National Council of Trade Unions). ‘Ditsela’ also means ‘pathways’ in seSotho.