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.     

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。     

环境权:一种新兴的现代人权

人权是最基本的权利,环境权来自人权。生存权位于人权的核心,而环境权作为一项基本人权是不可剥夺、不可放弃和替代的权利。如果没有环境权,传统人权体系中的生存权就不可能得到完善的保障。环境权源于生存权,但超越了生存权,因此它是一种新兴的现代人权。     

简论以法治腐--学习邓小平反腐倡廉思想

邓小平反腐败思想的一个重要特点就是把治理腐败与民主法制建设紧密地结合起来,这不仅为我们指出了防治腐败的根本方法,也为我国政治现代化建设提供了一个整体思路.     

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。     

新布什主义下的欧美关系

小布什赢得大选连任之后,修补美欧关系成为其第二任期内的重点任务之一,于是新布什主义出台,其主要表现为突出的“亲欧”姿态。一方面,欧美分歧难以弥合,并将继续发展;另一方面,欧美利益你中有我、我中有你,欧美联盟仍是主流,并将继续长期存在。     

论加强对高校大学生法律行为的教育

为实现高校培养新型人才的目标 ,高校对大学生进行法律行为教育势在必行。法律行为的可变性和社会性是法律行为教育理论依据的关键 ,应采取多种方式加强对高校大学生法律行为的教育。     

内地与澳门程序性违法法律后果之比较

内地与澳门虽然都建立了程序性违法的制裁制度,但价值理念、法律传统等诸多方面的不同导致了两地在有关刑事诉讼程序性违法法律后果的规定上存在较大差异。针对警察、检察官或法官的各种违反法定诉讼程序的行为,澳门刑事诉讼法规定了诉讼行为无效制度和非法证据排除规则,构成其较为完善的程序性裁判机制。相比而言,内地有关程序性违法法律后果的规定则存在不少问题。深入比较两地的程序性违法法律后果,研究其各自的运作机理和制度绩效,对于两地尤其是我国内地程序性违法制裁制度的改革与完善具有重要的借鉴意义。     

民事责任的两种规范模式

民事权利义务规范的设定有行为本位和资源本位两种模式,民事责任规范作为民事规范的一种也不例外。传统的学说将民事责任界定为义务的违反显然是行为本位视角的产物,实际上民事责任的产生与当事人的义务违反没有必然联系。民事责任是为保护民事权利或者法益,基于特定的法律事实而对一定的民事主体产生的不利后果。根据民事规范的设定模式,可以把民事责任规范设定模式分为“义务(行为)——责任”模式和“权利(资源)——责任”模式两种,其中前者是行为本位视角的产物,后者是资源本位视角的产物。     

马克思主义法律思想中国化研究论纲——写在《现代法学》首任主编黎国智教授80寿辰之际

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