Legal Eye for the Layperson

A "workshop" which changed my life as an attorney and protagonist of peace...: I published this blogpost on my personal blog as well but purely for this blog, I have included this interesting thought experiment: What if all legal professionals were given a suggested way of thinking, which paradoxically ended up proving them wrong, but which also would lead to more productive, efficient, positive, and spiritual representation of people / communities / interests / groups? Now, what if our judges, magistrates, court staff, and drafters of legislation were given a means to change their lives as well as the lives of all those people over whom their legislative means operates? Is it so impossible to imagine a world where all legal professionals do not impose on the public their own beliefs / opinions / attitudes (which on their own are derived from their past experience)? This perpetuates the negativity that this world is trying to eradicate. This goes further: the legis...

It is not very often an attorney comes out and admits being helpless against a certain fight for a noble cause. With the appropriate resources, an attorney ( in theory ) should be able to fight the battle of David versus Goliath (David being the attorney). There are instances where, admittedly or not, attorneys are roped in achieving their final goals. Today marks this day for me. The fight is not yet over but the tragic finish line is imminent. The story begins with two little African children, who both had difficult births and infancy development. These two children are full siblings. Let's call the first-born Mather and the second-born Arthur. Mather is eighteen months older than Arthur but Arthur was born HIV positive. Before long, they were declared as wards of the State and eventually became orphans. Marher is moved to a small baby sanctuary under the care of a particular house mother (let's call her Mother Hen). She identifies a suitable candidate for this child to ...

As most of you know, maintenance is normally a word people bandy about in housework or movable repairs. Of course, on the more serious note, it also relates to a duty by one person to support another person or people. This duty of support can either result from an act of volition (i.e. marriage or adoption) or from conception of life (i.e. a child or parent). They are reciprocal duties of support that each party owes to the other. The two differ in minor respects but the concepts are (for this purpose) essentially very similar. Support depends on a lifestyle to which a person has become accustomed (when married and subsequently divorced) or depends on the needs of that person with whom a duty exists (when dealing with a child born out of wedlock or your own parents). However, as with lifestyles these days, they are fickle and subject to changes in one's own circumstances. If this occurs, it is up to the person who suffers those changes to approach the court for a variation in su...

The criminal matter of Oscar Pistorius is no secret. The justification behind the hype is that he is a celebrity. Every day, for the past four days, little tid-bits of interpretations and rarely facts were hogging the headlines of this matter. Meanwhile, a six year old girl was raped today by a fellow student at her school in Western Cape. In addition to this, a woman was gang-raped by a group of men, some of whom have been arrested. Compared to the headlines stolen by the Pistorius case, who would want to hear about South Africa’s most tragic flaw? Who is being failed here? The justice system – the media can play a crucial role in societal awareness. Its people – who better to propagate a crime-preventative society than its people? The victims – being outgunned by the same system which was built to protect them is not justified.

Yesterday afternoon, on my way back home from work, I heard about an incident on the radio. It was casually announced that a 17-year old teenager named Anene Booysen was "viciously" raped and mutilated in her home town of Bredasdorp, Western Cape, South Africa. Before she passed away, she managed to name her ex-boyfriend as one of the rapists. It would appear, as there were many suspects, that she was gang-raped. At this point, two men had been arrested and will be brought before court next week. After hearing this  announcement, the country was up in arms and the African National Congress (ANC) Women's League commenced intense political action against rape, demanding that more awareness and "harsher punishments" to be handed down by the courts for such crimes. LEAD SA, a 94.7 initiative, also commenced public action. The two statistics that frightened me the most were announced as well and these were: One in every three women in South Africa will be ra...

In my very short-lived but extensive experience of the Maintenance Courts, Gauteng, I have sadly become disappointed with what has recently transpired. Magistrates and Maintenance Officers from certain jurisdictions have taken an antagonistic approach towards "Interim Orders" and "Provisional Orders" for maintenance of a child pending finalisaton of those proceedings. This problem arose as a result of the Pents v Ilsley judgment out of the South Gauteng High Court where the Randburg Maintenance Court (and thus any other court following the same procedure) was penalised for issuing Subpoenas to Respondents for their " First Appearance " at court. This " First Appearance " is an informal inquiry before a Maintenance Officer in terms of Section 6 of the Maintenance Act. In terms of the Regulations to the Act, this process is indeed the incorrect procedure. The nature of a Subpoena in terms of the Act is for the the purposes of calling upon the...

Isn't it uncanny how there is an element of truth in justice but truth does not necessarily encompass justice? One can define truth as the conformity to fact or reality – which is synonymous with declarations of righteousness and freedom from falsehoods. In all material understandings of the concept of truth, the foundational meaning lies in objectiveness of fact. On the other hand, if one had to define justice, a key element in true (or natural) justice is honesty and conformity with truth and reality. Put simply, justice is the integrity in the dealings between men. It is the strict compliance with moral obligations toward humanity and the Divine Law. It is in fact the basis upon which human rights were created. And is it not fascinating how justice and truth link when it comes to human rights? In what instances have truth and justice been linked in the arena of international human rights? One of the most famous examples of this is the creation of Truth Reconciliation C...