SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online

 
vol.28Private regulation in the context of international sales contractsAn analysis of the duty to reasonably accommodate disabled employees: a comment on Jansen v Legal Aid South Africa author indexsubject indexarticles search
Home Pagealphabetic serial listing  

Services on Demand

Article

Indicators

Related links

  • On index processCited by Google
  • On index processSimilars in Google

Share


Law, Democracy and Development

On-line version ISSN 2077-4907
Print version ISSN 1028-1053

Abstract

VAN COLLER, Arthur. Judicial problem-solving: An evaluation of Grobler v Phillips and Others [2022] ZACC 32. Law democr. Dev. [online]. 2024, vol.28, pp.76-101. ISSN 2077-4907.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2077-4907/2024/ldd.v28.4.

The South African Constitutional Court was recently tasked with considering whether the "just and equitable" requirement of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act had been complied with when an eviction order was granted in the Somerset West Magistrates' Court. The Magistrates' Court found that the occupier unlawfully occupied the land and determined that the eviction was just and equitable in the circumstances. However, the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal held that the order of the Magistrates' Court could not be confirmed. With certain conditions attached, the Constitutional Court held that the eviction was just and equitable. These judgments are noteworthy as they highlight the in consistencies in the reasoning of the various courts that considered the same facts. The conclusion is that judicial reasoning which creates tension between the rights of private landowners and unlawful occupiers is not constructive. Ideally, evictions should be resolved by enforcing a potentially homeless person's right to access adequate housing by holding the state to account for its constitutional obligations.

Keywords : eviction; Prevention of Illegal Eviction Act; just and equitable; unlawful occupier; meaningful engagement.

        · text in English     · English ( pdf )

 

Creative Commons License All the contents of this journal, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License