Building the constitution : the practice of constitutional interpretation in post-apartheid South Africa / James Fowkes.
2016
KTL2620 .F69 2016 (Mapit)
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Author
Title
Building the constitution : the practice of constitutional interpretation in post-apartheid South Africa / James Fowkes.
Imprint
Cambridge, United Kingdom : Cambridge University Press, 2016.
Description
xxi, 392 pages ; 24 cm.
Series
Cambridge studies in constitutional law.
Formatted Contents Note
Taking reality (legally) seriously
Voting rights, politics, and trust
The role of the court : standard conceptions
The role of the court : constitution-building
LGBTI equality
Democracy
Socio-economic rights
Equality, eviction and engagement.
Voting rights, politics, and trust
The role of the court : standard conceptions
The role of the court : constitution-building
LGBTI equality
Democracy
Socio-economic rights
Equality, eviction and engagement.
Summary
"This revisionary perspective on South Africa's celebrated Constitutional Court draws on historical and empirical sources alongside conventional legal analysis to show how support from the African National Congress government and other political actors has underpinned the Court's landmark cases, which are often applauded too narrowly as merely judicial achievements. Standard accounts see the Court as overseer of a negotiated constitutional compromise and as the looked-to guardian of that constitution against the rising threat of the ANC. However, in reality South African successes have been built on broader and more admirable constitutional politics to a degree no previous account has described or acknowledged. The Court has responded to this context with a substantially consistent but widely misunderstood pattern of deference and intervention. Although a work in progress, this institutional self-understanding represents a powerful effort by an emerging court, as one constitutionally serious actor among others, to build a constitution"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Location
STA
Call Number
KTL2620 .F69 2016
Language
English
ISBN
9781107124097 hardback
1107124093 hardback
1107124093 hardback
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