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。     

行政处罚第三人研究——对一个行政处罚案件的展开

在行政处罚案件中,涉及到第三人的案件大量存在。但是现行行政处罚法中并没有明确地设定第三人制度,这对案件的处理带来诸多障碍。设立第三人制度有利于案件的正确处理,有利于维护第三人的合法权益,有利于处罚决定的接受和执行。第三人的设立符合法律公平正义原则和行政法基本原理,可以降低执法成本及节约社会资源。在行政处罚案件中,法律应赋予第三人具有参与权和救济权等权利,这样便于第三人积极参与行政处罚程序,保证其合法权益的实现。     

从祖灵意识谈儒道起源及其同流

祖灵意识是贯穿中国上古文化的一条思想主线,在此基础上,逐渐形成了中国儒道两家思想。道家偏重继承了女性祖灵意识,儒家则承接了男性祖灵意识,前者代表一种柔软无为的精神,后者则表达了刚强进取的情怀。儒道两家是在祖灵意识的发展中逐渐分化出来的。     

未来社会新的发展观探祈

确立未来社会新的发展观是面向21世纪全人类无法回避的课题。未来社会新的发展观的基本取向是 :从改造自然、技术、环境等转向改变人类自己。     

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。     

论紊乱犯罪现场逆现性

紊乱犯罪现场是案犯犯罪行为的物化反映,储存着犯罪主体及相关事物的信息。感知能力强的勘查人员具有辩证思维能力,能把自己对客观环境认识的合理性输入到紊乱的特殊环境中,理出紊乱犯罪现场发生、发展的整个头绪。     

论股东大会决议瑕疵的法律救济

股东大会决议是股份有限公司的最高意思表示。由于种种原因 ,股东大会决议往往存在瑕疵 ,对其进行必要的法律救济 ,是维护公司利益 ,保护股东和第三人的合法权益的客观要求。我国《公司法》在这方面的规定还非常欠缺 ,有必要加以完善。     

加入WTO与中国内外资企业法律制度分析

审视我国现行的内外资企业法律制度,其与市场经济法治要求有一定的距离,并且存在着诸多与 WTO 规则相背离的地方。我们应本着经济立法是对客观经济规律地正确反映的指导思想,制定反映我国社会主义市场经济要求的内外资企业法律制度。     

汉族人群五个STR基因座的多态性调查

应用PCR及PAG电泳技术研究了PLA2A、vWA、CYP19、TH和LPL五个基因座的多态性，调查武汉地区汉族无关个体，获得汉族人群的频率分布。五个基因座基因型频率分布与Hardy-Weinberg平衡吻合良好、分别计算基因座的杂合度（H）、个人识别能力（Dp）、非父排除率（PE）和多态性信息总量（PIC）。为法医学应用提供了基础数据。