AbstractsEconomics

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The 1993 and 1996 South African Constitutions protect socio-economic rights as justiciable rights. As legal guarantees, these rights have the potential to address the socio-economic hardship experienced by many South Africans today. However, their contribution towards this will depend largely on how these rights are interpreted. The 1993 and 1996 Constitutions oblige courts to consider international law when interpreting the Bill of Rights. This dissertation examines the relationship between this interpretative mandate and the Constitutional Court’s adjudication of the socio-economic rights entrenched in the Bill of Rights. In particular, this dissertation investigates whether the Court has developed a clear methodological approach to the consideration of international law in its interpretation of the Bill of Rights, and how the Court has applied such an approach to the interpretation of socioeconomic rights. This dissertation shows that, while the Constitutional Court has developed a methodological approach to the consideration of international law when interpreting the Bill of Rights, its approach remains embryonic. In particular, the Court has not fully developed clear analytic guidelines indicating how courts should consider international law sources. In addition, the Court has not fully explored the relevance of specific sources of international law to the interpretative exercise. Nevertheless, this dissertation argues that the methodological approach developed thus far provides the Court with an important means of engaging with international law in judicial reasoning, which can enrich the Court’s interpretative process. Moreover, a detailed investigation into the Court’s socio-economic jurisprudence reveals that the Court’s consideration of international law is inconsistent and sporadic. However, the analysis also demonstrates that when the Court has considered international law in its adjudication of socio-economic rights, it has done so in various ways and to various degrees. In addition, the analysis reveals how the Court’s application of the reasonableness model of review, developed within the context of positive duties imposed by socio-economic rights, limits a substantive consideration of international law in the development of the normative content of socio-economic rights. A key contribution of this dissertation is the detailed analysis of the Court’s methodological approach to the consideration of international law sources developed thus far, and the demonstration of how this can be applied within the field of socio-economic rights. In addition, this dissertation identifies relevant international human rights standards and adjudicative approaches pertaining to socio-economic rights and illustrates how the Court can engage with these sources to support and enhance the development of South Africa’s socio-economic rights jurisprudence. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die 1993 en 1996 Suid-Afrikaanse Grondwet beskerm sosio-ekonomiese regte as beregbare regte. As…