John Dugard Livres

The book offers an in-depth analysis of South Africa's legal system, drawing on John Dugard's experiences as a Supreme Court Advocate. It explores the interplay between the legal order and the country's historical, political, and cultural contexts. By comparing South Africa's legal landscape with that of England, America, and other nations, it highlights significant judicial decisions and the prevailing legal opinions, providing a comprehensive understanding of contemporary legal practices and their implications.

Looking back over a long and distinguished career, John Dugard describes the work he undertook in defence of human rights by opposing the system of apartheid in South West Africa/Namibia and South Africa and more recently in occupied Palestine, which enforces a system that closely mirrors apartheid in South Africa. He shows how law was used by progressive lawyers in Namibia and South Africa to strike at the heart of apartheid. The entrenchment of a system of discrimination and oppression in occupied Palestine is carefully examined in the context of apartheid, but he ends on a note of hope that the international community, acting through civil society and the institutions of international law, will ensure that a just solution is found to this seemingly intractable problem.

The secession of States is subject to legal regulation. The arguments presented by States in the advisory proceedings on Kosovo confirm thatthere are rules of international law that determine whether the secession of a State in the post-colonial world is permissible. These rules derivefrom the competing principles of self-determination and territorial integrity. In deciding whether to recognize a secessionist entity as aState, or to admit it to the United Nations, States must balance these competing principles, with due regard to precedent and State practice.These lectures examine cases in which secession has succeeded (such as Israel and Bangladesh), in which it has failed (such as Biafra andChechnya) and in which a determination is still to be made (Kosovo, Abkhazia and South Ossetia).