Research Articles (Faculty of Law)

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Browsing by Subject "Access to justice"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    An empirical analysis of class actions in South Africa
    (2020) Broodryk, Theo
    As far as the author is aware, there has not been an empirical analysis of class actions in South Africa since the introduction of the mechanism by the interim Constitution of 1993 more than 25 years ago. There is no publicly available data which provides meaningful empirical insight into the operation of the South African class action. There is consequently much that we do not know about it. This article attempts to examine class actions over a period spanning more than 19 years. The purpose of the article will be to provide, through an analysis of case law, an empirical exposition of class actions instituted in South Africa using the criteria and methodology mentioned below. The study demonstrates that, although there have been only a limited number of certification judgments delivered to date, there has been rapid growth in the number of certification judgments delivered in the past five years. Most of these judgments are aimed at providing access to justice for poor and marginalised individuals. The data presented herein could place South Africa in the fortuitous position of being able to build a comprehensive data archive in which the class action is statistically dissected. Without comprehensive data concerning the operation of the class action, the available information will be insufficient from the perspective of providing adequate insight to enable its optimal development going forward.
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    Engendering access to environmental justice in Nigeria’s oil producing areas
    (University of the Western Cape, 2021) Fo Roberts, Nyemutsu
    This article interrogates engendering access to environmental justice in Nigeria's oil producing areas and its connection with poverty and disempowerment of women. Women already suffer from the fact that access to justice for the vast majority of Nigerians is challenging and restrictive. It is discriminatory against women. Access to environmental justice is, therefore, an additional burden on them, and of significant concern to the people in the country's oil producing Niger Delta region. Militant youths, women and communities have protested in diverse forms against the injustice they suffer as a result of oil and gas production in the region. However, the Nigerian State has often responded with brutal repression resulting in deepening environmental insult in the region. The oil producing areas, therefore, suffer a triple jeopardy. First, access to justice remains a huge challenge for the people, including women. Secondly, there is the additional burden that they have to struggle for environmental justice against a State and international oil companies that are complicit in the adverse environmental desiderata, a disproportionate brunt of which is borne by women who, however, occupy an auxiliary position in the struggle. Thirdly, where there is policy intervention by way of environmental "clean up" projects, such interventions hardly face up to the need to involve women in developing and implementing key policies, which means that important issues for women are ignored and women continue to suffer substantive environmental injustice.
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    Legal empowerment as a tool for engendering access to justice in South Africa
    (Sage, 2020) Durojaye, Ebenezer
    This article examines the concept of access to justice and the challenges vulnerable and marginalised groups encounter in accessing justice. The article further discusses the recognition of access to justice as human rights imperative under international and regional human rights instrument. It then discusses barriers to access to justice for women. It argues that while access to justice remains a challenge for many vulnerable and marginalised groups, women particularly encounter serious barriers to access to justice in society. Furthermore, it discusses the notion of legal empowerment and the significance of this for the realisation of access to justice for vulnerable groups, especially women in disadvantaged communities. This is followed by the discussion on the experience of the Dullah Omar Institute in providing legal empowerment training for women in informal settlements in Cape Town and some of the, important lessons from this process. It concludes by making useful recommendations in ensuring access to justice for vulnerable women in informal settlements.
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    “Talk to my father”: re-thinking social exclusion and access to justice in the context of bridewealth negotiation
    (University of the Western Cape, 2021) Diala, Jane C
    Broadly, the concept of social exclusion denotes a condition in which peopie are unabie to voice their opinion freeiy and fuiiy in matters affecting their iives. It often manifests as unequai respect for, and protection of people's rights based on gender, age, race, and simiiar demographics. Sociai inciusion has become a concern for poiicy deveiopment and impiementation, particuiariy in cuiturai matters, where tensions often arise between traditionai norms and universaiist State iaws. In this context, brideweaith payment in Southern Nigeria presents an intriguing iens for examining social exclusion. Here, women's exciusion from their own brideweaith negotiation iiiustrates the interpiay of agency and unequai power reiations, two twin elements that affect access to justice and policy development. So, in what ways does women's exclusion from bridewealth negotiation broaden understanding of access to justice and development programming? This article argues that women's cultural exclusion from bridewealth negotiation hinders their agency in marriage under customary law. Using data obtained from Southern Nigeria in 2016, it shows how the sustenance of social exclusion stands at the intersection of law, culture, and justice.