Pretoria Student Law Review 2011 - 5
Editor in chief: Ulrich Fobian
2013
ISSN: 1998-0280
Pages: 149
Print version: Available
Electronic version: Free PDF available
About the publication
Legal writing is an essential element to the study of law, a concept the Board of 2011 understood. Nicole, Thandi, Serena, Jared, Clare, Chastin, Kenneth, Natasha and Mark committed to ensuring that this young legal journal produced passionate and professional articles.
The Board never wavered from their task of guaranteeing that the authors flourished in their ndividuality. Topics vary from Osama bin Laden to environmental law, from a desperate plea for legal inspiration and passion to stellar philosophical arguments diffusing complex situations. The essence of legal writing has been laid out for the reader/researcher in this journal — the fifth (2011) edition of the Pretoria Student Law Review (PSLR).
The PSLR is for legal scholars, not just from the University of Pretoria, who are able to see that a one-dimensional approach to the study of law cannot stand. To simply float through studies, barely ever fully conscious, only suffocates the integrity of the legal profession and hampers the progression of law in South Africa. In the dynamic and challenging field we as legal academics and lawyers have chosen to embrace, there needs to be a humility that enables us to see how little we know and how unjust we are despite the supreme Constitution, in order that we may be driven forward in search of solutions. GK Chesterton states that the definition of humility has altered and may be the very reason passion has flown out the window:
The truth is that there is a real humility typical of our time; but it so happens that it is practically a more poisonous humility than the wildest prostrations of the ascetic. The old humility was a spur that prevented a man from stopping; not a nail in his boot that prevented him from going on. For the old humility made a man doubtful about his efforts, which might make him work harder. But the new humility makes a man doubtful about his aims, which will make him stop working altogether.
This unique journal is there for those students who understand the ‘old humility’ and are willing to digest current events, laws and rules.
The PSLR acquired an office in 2011. This has been a great help in the Board’s pursuit of professionalism and efficiency. To have ‘a space to call our own’ has not only allowed for creativity, but also for ensuring that the creative ideas materialise into the desired realities.
2011 has seen the Board continue to include a note from the opposite side of the spectrum — the lecturer’s point of view; Professor Pieter Carstens has kindly written this year’s note. A special thanks to Professor Carstens for this valuable contribution.
A short story from the Faculty of Law’s (University of Pretoria) Faculty Festival is included in this edition. The theme of the Festival was heritage and the story, although not strictly speaking legal, does display the importance of creativity in the study of law.
Unfortunately there are always those hard workers who are not credited for the valuable work they do. With this in mind, I would like to specially mention Elzet Hurter for her constant assistance; Professor Anton Kok for his mentorship in the development of the journal; Serena Kalbskopf and Mark Nichol for tackling the hard job of making sure the journal is ready for print; Dominic Vertue, Mark Nichol and Clare Smith for the front cover; Grant Stephens for the photograph on the back.
In reading this journal I hope you are able to doubt yourself and the law, so that you in turn may discover your niche in this profession, forever testing the status quo.
Editor in chief: Ulrich Fobian
Editors: Chastin Bassingthwaighte, Claire-Alice Smith, Serena Kalbskopf, Kenneth Sithebe, Nicole Breen, Mark Nichol, Thandi Tshabalala, Natasha Mandizha, Jared Schultz
Table of Contents
- Editors’ note
Ulrich Fobian - On becoming a passionate lawyer
Pieter Carstens - Osama bin Laden: A war waged within the gaps in international law
Reuben Cronjé and Sarah McGibbon - Tranformative constitutionalism: Separate but equal? A sceptical approach
Ruan du Toit - Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v Florida Department of Environmental Protection: An avulsion of littoral rights
Jeffrey Partlow - Access to social security for non-citizens: An international, South African and European view
Taryn Lee Vos - Post-apartheid reflections on critique, transformation and refusal
Joel SM Modiri - Discussion on characterisation in South African private international law
Justin Leach - Transboundary environmental pollution: Understanding the intricacies of international law
Kshitij Bansal - Rose tinged memories: A family of strangers
Nozuko Siyotula
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