Decisions of the extinct Appellate Committee of the House of Lords will continue to resonate in South African administrative, constitutional and international law

• Published date: 01 January 2013
• DOI: 10.10520/EJC153141
• Author: George Barrie
• Pages: 249-264
• Date: 01 January 2013

Decisions of the extinct Appellate

Committee of the House of Lords will

continue to resonate in South African

administrative, constitutional and

international law*

George Barr ie**

1 Introduction

In 2003 it was ann oun ced that a Su prem e C ourt wo uld repla ce the App ellate

Co mmi ttee of the Hous e of Lor ds. T his tra nspi red in 2009 and sa w the en d of the

Ho use o f Lord s ac ting in the sp ecifi c jud icial c apaci ty as t he fi nal c ourt of ap peal

for t he U nited K ingdo m. Th e oth er judic ial com mittee of the H ouse of Lo rds, the

1

Jud icial Com mittee of the Priv y C oun cil, cont inue s to fun ctio n. F or a ll p ractic al

pur pos es the Supre me C ourt con tinue s to exerc ise the same juri sdic tion as it s

pre dec esso r. T here is m erely a ch ange of name a nd a c hang e o f ve nue. T he

Su prem e Cou rt is to be head ed by a Pre siden t who was nam ed a s Lord Philli ps

of W orth Matra vers .

It may be oppo rtune at this junct ure to asses s the major decis ions of the

App ellate Comm ittee o f the H ouse o f Lo rds (h ereinafte r the H ouse of L ords) a nd

their p ossible in fluence on So uth Af rican a dmin istrative law, c onstitu tional la w and

intern ational law . The se thre e branc hes of la w have been se lected due to the initial

– and continu ing – influ ence of English law upon the m. The inf luenc e of English law

on So uth Afric a has be en imme nse and is cle arly visible in the law of eviden ce, the

2

Dedicated to the memory of Ellison Kahn who, as I perceive, believed that the fusion of the best of

*

Roman- Dutch and English law could blend into a harmonious union. He further believed that, in the

long run, the test is social utility and that emotion should not cloud the debate about the purity of

Roman-Dutch law versus reliance on English authorities. He saw no point in embarking on a war of

attrition to starve our legal system of relevant Engli sh influences.

BA, LLB (UP), LLD (Unisa), Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Law, University of J ohannesburg.

**

See Le Seur ‘From appellate committee to supreme court: A narrative’ in Blom-Cooper, Dickson

1

and Drewry The judicial House of Lords 1876-2009 (2009) 65.

Schreiner The contribution of English law to South African law and the rule of law in South Africa

2

(1967) 24; Schm idt and Rademeyer Law of evidence (2003) para 1311; Cowen The law of

250 (20 13) 28 SAPL

law of delict, com petition law, criminal procedu re, negotiable instrum ents, commerc ial

law, c ompa ny law, the law of in suran ce, inte rpretatio n of sta tutes in a ddition to the

abo ve-me ntioned branc hes o f inter nation al, adm inistrativ e and cons titution al law.

Jud gmen ts by the Ho use of Lords ha ve ofte n influen ced So uth Afr ican courts

by th e cog ency o f their reaso ning a nd the clarity o f their lang uage . This in fluenc e

did not cea se d esp ite th e si nce re at tem pt by our app ellate divisi on t o de velo p a

So uth A frica n com mon l aw fr ee fro m the imp erial in fluen ce of E nglish law.

Exa mples of s uch attem pts are Reg al v Afr ican Supe rslate (Pty) L td; Tru st Ba nk

3

van Af rika Bpk v Eks teen and J orda an v Biljon wher e the appe llate divi sion

4 5

dec lined to follow princip les whic h had en tere d Sout h Afric an law thr ough En glish

law . As p ointed out b y Cam eron (n ow Mr Just ice C amer on o f the Con stitut iona l

6

Co urt), Steyn CJ wi shed to term inate the spec ial bo nd b etwe en E nglish law and

So uth Afr ican law. Thi s he atte mpted to do, not on ly by firing b roads ides at

En glish law, b ut by e mba rking on a war of attritio n which would e ventu ally lea d to

En glish elem ents in th e Sout h Afri can le gal sys tem be ing sta rved of their supp ort

by f orec losin g the judic ial a men abilit y and cong enia lity to them .

So uth Afric a’s c onst itutio nal law (e specia lly pri or to the 1996 Cons titution ),

adm inistra tive law (desp ite the intro duct ion of the Prom otio n of Adm inistra tive

Jus tice Act 3 of 2000 ) an d inter natio nal law (d esp ite sec tions 23 1-233 in the 19 96

Co nstitu tion) ha ve bee n fashio ned alo ng Eng lish lines . Eng lish cas es are cite d no

les s ofte n than befor e, alt houg h thei r forc e is p ersu asiv e rath er than comp elling.

Ellis on Kah n’s com ments tha t ‘our cou rts hav e bee n suc cess ful in tak ing th e

bes t from Rom an-Du tch law and t he b est f rom Eng lish l aw a nd f using the tw o in

a ha rmonio us uni on’ are mo re tha n apt. To atte mpt to d eny th e Eng lish ele ments

7

in ou r cons titutio nal, adm inistra tive an d inter natio nal law would be ‘a s impo ssible

as to elimin ate Ro man law from the fabr ic of Eur ope an leg al syst ems or to sort ou t

the wate rs of t he s ea in to the river s wh ence they c ame’.

8

negotiable instruments in South Africa (1985) 146; Joubert et al The law of South Africa vol 19

(1996) para 1; Hahlo and Kahn The Union of South Africa: The development of its laws and

Constitution (1960) 41; Van der Merwe and Olivier Die onregmatige daad in the Suid-Afrikaanse reg

(1989) 18; Van Heerden and Neethling Unlawful competiti on (1995) 53.

1963 1 SA 102 (AD) (nuisance).

3

1964 3 SA 402 (estoppel). Hoexter J (at 414) concurring stated that ‘I bear in mind that our courts

4

have pointed out over and over again that, in matters of estoppel, it is prope r and safe to look for

guidance, to decisions of the English cou rts’. His was a lone voice in the court in this regard.

1962 1 SA 286 (AD) (defamation). See too Craig v Voortrekkerpers Bpk 963 1 SA 149 (AD) and

5

Nydoo v Vengtas 1965 1 SA 1 (AD).

See Cameron ‘Legal chauvinism, executive mindedness and justice: LC Steyn’s impact on South

6

African law’ 1982 SALJ 38. See Chaskalson ‘South Africa’ in Blom-Cooper (n 1) 360-366.

Kahn (n 2) 47.

7

Id. See Bodenstein ‘English influences on the common law of South Africa’ (1913) 30 SALJ 304;

8

Wessels History of the Roman Dutch law (1908) 399; De Wet ‘Gemenereg of wetgewing’ (1948) 11

THRHR 2.