LAW AND CONTEMPORARY SOUTH AFRICAN SOCIETY

Product Description

Law and Contemporary South African Society is a collection of essays arising from research and presentations by academics, legal practitioners and public officials on topical issues which formed the sub-themes of the FIRST UNIN LAW WEEK held in May 2002. As an edifice of the impact of law in modern society, each essay systematically analyses the overhaul of the former oppressive laws by a proactive legislature, the consequent interpretation of those laws by an active judicial branch aided by the values entrenched in the Constitution.

The sub-themes dictate a wide-ranging coverage of areas of present-day legal developments. Accordingly, the book commences with a discussion of the enforcement of socio-economic rights in the Bill of Rights. It focuses on the controversies surrounding the provision by government of the drug, Nevirapine, to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. The book then examines legal responses to the problems faced by children in light of the fact that the Constitution has elevated the rights of the child to fundamental rights. One area of controversy and persistent wrangling that will not go away in a hurry is the ‘land question’ which fittingly elicits discussion in this book. Other fundamental rights issues discussed in this book include the recent protection of the environment through law, the reform of the outdated social security system and the right to a fair administrative action. Changes brought about the Constitution are not solely confined to the areas of public law. They similarly affect other branches of the law through the horizontal application of the Bill of Rights, hence the discussions in this book of vital topics in mercantile, company and labour laws.