An ‘important purpose of section 34 [of the Constitution] is to guarantee the protection of the judicial process to persons who have disputes that can be resolved by law’ and that the right of access to court is ‘foundational to the stability of an orderly society. It ensures the peaceful, regulated and institutionalised mechanisms to resolve disputes, without resorting to self-help. The right of access to court is a bulwark against vigilantism, and the chaos and anarchy which it causes. Construed in this context of the rule of law and the principle against self-help in particular, access to court is indeed of cardinal importance’.The right guaranteed s34 would be rendered meaningless if court orders could be ignored with impunity:the underlying purposes of the right — and particularly that of avoidance of self-help — would be undermined if litigants could decide which orders they wished to obey and which they wished to ignore.
Unisa is organising a conference on trans-border commercial law. The workshop deals with commercial law implications of cross-border trade – so anyone encountering a measure of international dimensions would benefit. The organisers state that at least three papers deal with human rights and intellectual property protection, while other papers may touch on constitutional issues.
The programme may be viewed on their web site www.unisa.ac.za/transborderworkshop.
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