JJS 2014 Volume 39 Issue 1

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/11660/2393

Browse

Browsing JJS 2014 Volume 39 Issue 1 by Issue Date

Filter results by year or month
Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Rethinking legal skills education in an LLB curriculum
    (Faculty of Law, University of the Free State, 2014) Biggs, L.; Hurter, K.
    English: Over the past decade, there have been growing complaints regarding the low levels of literacy, research and numeracy skills demonstrated by law graduates in practice, and a call for universities to more adequately address these skill gaps. The Faculty of Law at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) responded to this call by redesigning their first-year Legal Skills course using a stand-alone skills-based model and a context-based teaching approach. The redesign process is outlined and particular themes in each stage of the process are discussed. This includes identifying contextual factors, defining essential skills; course content analysis; course restructuring; teaching reformulation; adaptation of assessment and feedback; implementing a blended learning approach, and collaboration within the Faculty and across faculties and service providers. The article argues that a stand-alone skills-based model can be effective in developing a minimum level of competence, but that a sense of shared responsibility for skills development across the LLB programme is essential for a higher level of skill attainment. Lessons learned during the redesign process are highlighted, and where possible, recommendations for future considerations are explored
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    In-house provisioning and South African public procurement law
    (Faculty of Law, University of the Free State, 2014) Quinot, G.
    English: Public procurement is a highly regulated aspect of state administration and an area in which litigation is frequent in South Africa. As Nugent JA noted in South African Post Office v De Lacy:1 “Cases concerning tenders in the public sphere are coming before the courts with disturbing frequency.” It is thus surprising that the question of in-house provisioning was only pertinently raised in South African courts in the matter of Cash Paymaster Services (Pty) Ltd v The Chief Executive Officer of The South African Social Security Agency,2 which commenced in the High Court towards the end of 2009, winding its way through the judicial system to a Constitutional Court order in mid-2011. However, more surprising and somewhat disappointing, none of these courts used this opportunity to squarely deal with the question so that it still remains largely an unresolved one in South African law. In this contribution, I assess the judgments in the Cash Paymaster Services case and discuss some of the pertinent issues that will have to be addressed when the next opportunity arises to deal with in-house provisioning.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Virtual bullying in employment
    (Faculty of Law, University of the Free State, 2014) Smit, D. M.
    English: The world of work has certainly benefitted much from the revolution in information communications technology and the wave of digitisation of the 21st century - e-mail, websites and virtual marketing platforms have truly removed many boundaries. However, these boundaries have also been removed for those in the workplace with less noble intentions: bullies. Virtual bullying, or cyberbullying, in the workplace has become a major concern worldwide. Some even regard virtual bullying as being more sinister than its face-to-face equivalent, as personal attacks launched on virtual platforms are often more intense, frequent, unexpected and difficult to stop, and can have far-reaching consequences not only for the employee on the receiving end, but also for the often unsuspecting employer, who may be held vicariously liable. Cyberbullying in the workplace may take various forms, including identifiable or pseudonymous e-mails and SMSs; communications that feature offensive content; negative characterisation on workplace or personal blogs, and the like. This article provides an overview of the differences between face-to-face bullying and virtual bullying; discusses the essential elements and prevalence of virtual bullying in the workplace, and then proceeds to compare the legal position with regard to this phenomenon in the United States of America, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Australia. It concludes with a few possible solutions to this pervasive problem in employment.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    What divides, what joins and who decides? Diversity, the common good and limited law
    (Faculty of Law, University of the Free State, 2014) Benson, I. T.
    English: It is commonplace to hear politics and law extol the importance of "pluralism" and "diversity". In addition to difference, however, and less discussed, but certainly important, is the notion of "the common good". Law, for its part, tends to mediate between what is different and what should be shared. How law is understood in relation to diversity and difference and how we understand the limits of law is also central to how a diverse society is protected and advanced. Dominance and control, on the one hand, and the privatization and marginalization of diverse beliefs, on the other, threaten the appropriate, but limited places for public involvement of diverse communities. Is it appropriate to draw a line between belief and conduct as a means of achieving public homogeneity? This article examines the meaning of pluralism, diversity, the common good, the relationship between belief and conduct and the role and limits of the law and politics in relation to personal and associational freedom.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Tax Law: an introduction: book review
    (Faculty of Law, University of the Free State, 2014) Brits, Pieter
    Abstract not available
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Freedom of religion of children in private schools
    (Faculty of Law, University of the Free State, 2014) Chetty, K.; Govindjee, A.
    English: This article argues against the interpretation that the right to establish private schools includes the right to require religious conformity from non-adherent learners by way of a waiver of their religious freedom. Despite the importance of respecting the rights of religious communities to protect and preserve their faith in private schools, it is submitted that this right cannot be exercised without regard for the religious freedom, dignity and best interests of non-adherent children. As a result, it is submitted that the waiver of the freedom of religion of non-adherent children is not consistent with the values which South African society reveres and, therefore, cannot be enforced. This article suggests that there is a way for the rights of private schools and the rights of the non-adherent child to co-exist in harmony through the application of the reasonable accommodation principle in private schools.