In his article on public access to private land in Scotland, David Carey Miller of the University of Aberdeen and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in London considers the radical reform of Scottish land law and the "new" right of public access to private land for recreational purposes and the right to cross land. He also puts this in the context of the protection of property under the European Convention on Human Rights.
With reference to child victims of armed conflict, Robbie Robinson of the NWU addresses the difficult question of the nature of the relationship in law between the state and the individual, both as bearers of legal subjectivity, making use of the theory of public subjective rights.
The relationship between sustainable development and renewable energy is the theme of the contribution by Michelle Barnard of the NWU. She employs the principles developed in international law as criteria for assessment of South African renewable energy law and policy.
Loma Steynberg and Raheel Ahmed of UNISA analyse the procedure under the South African Road Accident Fund for the determination of the nature of injuries sustained by claimants against the Fund for non-patrimonial loss suffered after a motor-vehicle accident.
Magda Slabbert of UNISA and Herman Edeling, neurosurgeon, show that the South African Road Accident Fund is supposed to provide just compensation to persons who have suffered following a road accident. The claiming process for general damages is however cumbersome, confusing, complicated and socially unjust, requiring some formal adjustments and appropriate assessment of serious injuries.
Murdoch Watney of the University of Johannesburg considers the question whether, given the opportunities afforded to criminals by globalization, South Africa has succeeded in establishing an appropriate framework to enable it to make a positive contribution to the fields of mutual legal assistance in cases of extradition.
In their contribution Tamara Cohen and Luendree Moodley of the University of KwaZulu-Natal consider, with reference to five statistical indicators, the progress made by South Africa towards the attainment of decent work objectives against the background of the fundamental goal of the International Labour Organisation to secure decent and productive work for all.
Rinda Botha and Jo-Mari Visser of the University of the Free State present a critical and comparative discussion of the historical development of section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1977 concerning the use of violence by the police, which some consider to guarantee suspects a right to flee.
Aspects of cyber terrorism, its meaning, terrorist use of the Internet and countermeasures to curtail it in various countries are highlighted by Fawzia Cassim of UNISA and she points out that an environment has been created which may easily be infiltrated by cyber terrorists.
With reference to the jurisprudence of the United States Supreme Court, which she finds to be highly suspect both intellectually and philosophically, Letetia van der Poll of the University of the Western Cape poses the question whether pornography is speech. She points out that the South African Constitutional Court has explicitly followed the US Supreme Court's philosophical justification as the basis for allowing "non-obscene" sexually explicit material as free speech and expression.
In his analysis, Amos Saurombe of UNISA emphasizes the fact that member states' commitment to the work of institutions within a regional economic community like SADC is critical for the full implementation of its Treaty and its Protocols, but that SADC institutions are not capable of completely fulfilling their legal obligations, partly as a result of the legal instruments themselves being incomplete and being in need of further reform.
Yousuf Vawda of the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Farhana Variawa, specialist radiologist, argue that, while significant recent discourse and jurisprudence have focused on the rights of patients in South Africa, the situation and rights of providers of health care services have not been adequately ventilated. They emphasize the challenges faced by the human resources personnel located at the centre of the roll-out of the government's ambitious programme of anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy in the combat against HIV/AIDS.
Omphemetse Sibanda of UNISA evaluates the Canadian and the EU's implementation of the WTO's resolution that developed nations could export patented pharmaceutical drugs to member states in order to address public health challenges such as HIV/AIDS and other epidemics. He dismisses the arguments against TRIPS flexibilities-inspired legislation and similar measures as mostly mere rhetoric and hair-splitting, stating that they sometimes unwarrantedly dismiss a workable solution to public-health problems.
Note
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In his note on the South African retirement fund industry, Clement Marumoagae, candidate attorney in Benoni ventures to demonstrate that the boards of trustees of South African pension funds are accountable to and owe fiduciary duties only to the fund they serve and not to the members of those funds.
Prof Francois Venter
Edition Editor
