To Wonderland Through the Looking-glass: Conceiving a Critical Legal Argument for Contractual Justice in the South African Law of Contract †

The aim of this paper is to identify the possible substructure (looking glass/es) of a critical legal argument for contractual justice (Wonderland) in the South African law of contract. South African contract law still fails, ten years after the constitutional transformation, to reflect the constitutional ideals of freedom, equality and human dignity in an acceptable manner. I argue that this disposition places a question mark over the legitimacy of contract law and marginalizes opportunities for the social change envisaged by the Constitution. The paper explores Duncan Kennedy’s Form and Substance-argument and indicates that the reluctance to accommodate these values may be attributable to the fact that the majority of role-players position themselves on the individualism/rules side of Kennedy’s continuum – a paradigm that perceives the law of contract as a body of positivistic rules to be applied neutrally and regardless of the social or socio-economic distortions its application may generate. In an attempt to move away from this traditional approach, the privileged paradigm is criticised. A typical CLS-approach is followed which employs sociology, psychological jurisprudence and game theory to criticise the law from outside the restrictive realms of law itself. Simultaneously, I attempt to illuminate the argument for a shift (step through the looking glass) to another paradigm. I conclude that our judiciary finds itself in a position similar to that of Plato’s prisoners in the cave and will not reach the point where they apply relevant (constitutional) values directly to contractual disputes. The State is thus responsible for infusing contract law with contractual justice, by implementing legislation to this effect in order to limit the hegemonic consequences of the judiciary’s obsession with freedom of contract and utopian rules, which fail in reality to further the ideal of justice. Paper presented at the Critical Legal Conference, 4 September 2004, London, UK. This paper is dedicated to the memory of the late Judge of Appeal, Mr. Justice P.J. Olivier. The paper is based on research conducted for the thesis in partial fulfilment of the degree LLD in the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria under the title ‘A critical legal argument for contractual justice in the South African law of contract.’ The degree supervisor is Professor Karin van Marle in the Department of Legal History, Comparative Law and Jurisprudence. The author wishes to thank the following persons for valuable deliberations and input: Karin van Marle, Graham Bradfield and Anashri Pillay. In addition, the author wishes to acknowledge and thank the University of Cape Town for financially supporting this research. †Paper presented at the Critical Legal Conference, 4 September 2004, London, UK. This paper is dedicated to the memory of the late Judge of Appeal, Mr. Justice P.J. Olivier. The paper is based on research conducted for the thesis in partial fulfilment of the degree LLD in the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria under the title ‘A critical legal argument for contractual justice in the South African law of contract.’ The degree supervisor is Professor Karin van Marle in the Department of Legal History, Comparative Law and Jurisprudence. The author wishes to thank the following persons for valuable deliberations and input: Karin van Marle, Graham Bradfield and Anashri Pillay. In addition, the author wishes to acknowledge and thank the University of Cape Town for financially supporting this research. apply relevant (constitutional) values directly to contractual disputes. The State is thus responsible for infusing contract law with contractual justice, by implementing legislation to this effect in order to limit the hegemonic consequences of the judiciary’s obsession with freedom of contract and utopian rules, which fail in reality to further the ideal of justice.     

构建和谐社会对行政执法的影响

和谐社会是人类文明社会追求的一种理想社会形态,而依法治国与依法行政是实现与构建和谐社会的必备要求,本文从行政执法的角度分析构建和谐社会对行政执法的影响,以期待完善行政执法质量,提高行政执法水平,实现和谐社会。     

法治的实现目标及其途径

法治社会的价值目标是追求民主、平等;法治的核心问题是约束、限制权力;法治国家的本质特征是体现民治;实现 法治化的基本途径是建立安全、方便、经济的参政方式。     

经济法的价值取向和基本原则

经济法作为国家协调社会经济的基本法律 ,其价值取向体现在 ,经济法追求的一般价值取向———实质正义和社会公正。经济法直接将维护社会经济总体效益作为自己追求的目标和遵循的原则 ,这是经济法价值取向的独到之处 ,以人性的全面实现和人的全面发展为最终价值目标。经济法的三大原则 ,简明地表达了经济法的价值取向。     

法律的统一对民法法典化的影响

自19世纪以来,大陆法系各国纷纷制定颁布了自己的民法典,掀起了制定民法典的浪潮。然而,在论及制定颁布民法典的原因时,多数学者往往忽视法律的统一这一因素对其的影响。实际上,从大陆法系各主要国家制定颁布民法典的最直接、最现实的目的来看,都是基于对已有分散的法律进行统一的需要。基于同样的原因,英美法系的国家也制定颁布了民事单行法。     

洗钱罪的保护客体探析 --兼论本罪在刑法分则体系中的地位

洗钱罪保护的客体即洗钱罪所保护的利益,洗钱犯罪既侵害了司法机关的正常活动又侵害了经济管理秩序,但洗钱犯罪所主要侵害的法益为司法机关的正常活动.今后,随着<反洗钱法>的出台,刑法分则中惩治洗钱行为的具体罪名也应加以修订,应将洗钱罪置于妨害司法罪之中,同时鉴于惩治金融机构及其工作人员洗钱犯罪的特殊性,刑事立法有必要创设新的罪名给予特殊保护.     

刑法学课程内容设置探讨——高校不同层次、不同专业刑法学课程教学内容的安排

刑法学体系结构庞大,刑法学课程可根据该体系的重点难点以及培养目标、实际需要等因素确定教学内容的安排。在专科、本科兼招的高等学校,既有必要安排好大专层次各专业的刑法学课程,又应该考虑好本科层次各专业刑法学课程的设置。     

从观念的结合到现实的统一——法治与社会主义的关联

法治与社会主义的关联经历了一个曲折的发展过程。在马克思恩格斯的社会主义理想中,法治与社会主义的观念结合仅体现在未来社会发展的特定的阶段。法治与社会主义的现实统一是随着中国改革开放逐步形成的。     

政治文明与我国法制现代化的发展

政治文明作为人类社会政治生活的进步状态和人类在政治实践活动中形成的文明成果,是一个以制度建设为主干,包括政党政治、民主政治、法治政治的完整体系。其实质就是要实现政治结构、政治活动和政治制度的法治化。因此,政治文明的发展必然会推动和促进法制现代化的发展。     

论刑事法律的人性化特征

以人为本正成为社会的主要理念，刑法虽然是最严厉的法律，也应当体现和反映这种理念，尊重和保障人权，进行人文立法和人道主义司法，构建符合时代要求的人性化法律。