The limitation of the discovery rules of Court against the right of access to information in South Africa
Abstract In South Africa, the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA) gives effect to the right of access information in Section 32 of the South African Constitution (the Constitution). Section 7 of PAIA provides that PAIA does not apply to records required for criminal or civil proc...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Escola de Direito
|
| Series: | Revista Direito GV |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1808-24322017000301029&lng=en&tlng=en |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832569882592411648 |
|---|---|
| author | Rashri Baboolal-Frank Fola Adeleke |
| author_facet | Rashri Baboolal-Frank Fola Adeleke |
| author_sort | Rashri Baboolal-Frank |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract In South Africa, the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA) gives effect to the right of access information in Section 32 of the South African Constitution (the Constitution). Section 7 of PAIA provides that PAIA does not apply to records required for criminal or civil proceedings after commencement of proceedings where access to that record is already provided for in any other law. Where records are obtained in contravention of Section 7, they are not admissible as evidence in criminal or civil proceedings. The aim of this paper is to determine whether the discovery rules of Court limit the constitutional right of everyone to access information. Consequently, the methodology employed in this paper involves a legal analysis namely: a limitations analysis utilising Section 36, the limitations clause of the Constitution. This paper further engages in case law analysis interpreting the exercise of the right of access to information before PAIA was passed and after PAIA was passed to highlight the anomaly of the application of Section 7. This paper argues that Section 7 unconstitutionally limits the ambit of the right of access to information and a direct constitutional challenge on this provision is necessary. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9d108c262f604b1884d67cd73f632498 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2317-6172 |
| language | English |
| publisher | Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Escola de Direito |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revista Direito GV |
| spelling | doaj-art-9d108c262f604b1884d67cd73f6324982025-02-02T19:34:03ZengFundação Getúlio Vargas, Escola de DireitoRevista Direito GV2317-61721331029105110.1590/2317-6172201740S1808-24322017000301029The limitation of the discovery rules of Court against the right of access to information in South AfricaRashri Baboolal-FrankFola AdelekeAbstract In South Africa, the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA) gives effect to the right of access information in Section 32 of the South African Constitution (the Constitution). Section 7 of PAIA provides that PAIA does not apply to records required for criminal or civil proceedings after commencement of proceedings where access to that record is already provided for in any other law. Where records are obtained in contravention of Section 7, they are not admissible as evidence in criminal or civil proceedings. The aim of this paper is to determine whether the discovery rules of Court limit the constitutional right of everyone to access information. Consequently, the methodology employed in this paper involves a legal analysis namely: a limitations analysis utilising Section 36, the limitations clause of the Constitution. This paper further engages in case law analysis interpreting the exercise of the right of access to information before PAIA was passed and after PAIA was passed to highlight the anomaly of the application of Section 7. This paper argues that Section 7 unconstitutionally limits the ambit of the right of access to information and a direct constitutional challenge on this provision is necessary.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1808-24322017000301029&lng=en&tlng=enAccess to informationPAIAdiscovery rulesdirect challengeSouth Africa |
| spellingShingle | Rashri Baboolal-Frank Fola Adeleke The limitation of the discovery rules of Court against the right of access to information in South Africa Revista Direito GV Access to information PAIA discovery rules direct challenge South Africa |
| title | The limitation of the discovery rules of Court against the right of access to information in South Africa |
| title_full | The limitation of the discovery rules of Court against the right of access to information in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | The limitation of the discovery rules of Court against the right of access to information in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | The limitation of the discovery rules of Court against the right of access to information in South Africa |
| title_short | The limitation of the discovery rules of Court against the right of access to information in South Africa |
| title_sort | limitation of the discovery rules of court against the right of access to information in south africa |
| topic | Access to information PAIA discovery rules direct challenge South Africa |
| url | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1808-24322017000301029&lng=en&tlng=en |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT rashribaboolalfrank thelimitationofthediscoveryrulesofcourtagainsttherightofaccesstoinformationinsouthafrica AT folaadeleke thelimitationofthediscoveryrulesofcourtagainsttherightofaccesstoinformationinsouthafrica AT rashribaboolalfrank limitationofthediscoveryrulesofcourtagainsttherightofaccesstoinformationinsouthafrica AT folaadeleke limitationofthediscoveryrulesofcourtagainsttherightofaccesstoinformationinsouthafrica |