Editorial

Abstract

The last general issue of 2016 boasts 11 contributions dealing with a variety of issues. Chrizell Chürr compares some of the challenges experienced in the South African educational system with the situation in the German system to propose alternatives for South Africa. Deon Erasmus and Angus Hornigold discuss the emergence of a different kind of model of litigation in South African law, which they refer to as "court supervised institutional transformation". They also investigate the feasibility of importing something like the American special master into South African law to assist with the implementation of court sentences. Wian Erlank's first contribution re-evaluates traditional conceptualisations of property rights in space, especially against the background of objects that are deemed to be res nullius (things belonging to nobody) as well as the theory of terra nullius (land belonging to nobody). Wian Erlank's second contribution also deals with property but this time he deliberates on the relevance and meaning of virtual property in modern society. Evode Kayitana moves further abroad to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the question of whether and to what extent foreign State officials can plead immunity when they are accused of international crimes before South African courts. Drawing an analogy with the American Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940, Johann Knobel argues in favour of extending the legal protection afforded to rare bird species to more common species to prevent the use of the excuse that a protected species was mistaken as a common species and therefore mistakenly killed. Tumo Maloka two high court cases which dealt with the question whether a person with previous convictions could be considered a "fit and proper person" to be admitted to the roll of attorneys. Lindiwe Maqutu charts the narrative of judicial influence on the diminishing credibility of the National Prosecuting Authority, using selected cases from the past, including those involving the South African president, Jacob Zuma. Nina Mollema gives a comparative narrative of sex offender registration in South Africa, the United States and the United Kingdom and comes to the conclusion that a sex offender register would not necessarily prevent the commission of sexual offences in South Africa. Marius Olivier and Avinash Govindjee reflect on the shortcomings and deficiencies of the proposed amendments to the Unemployment Insurance Act 63 of 2001, introduced via the provisions of the Unemployment Insurance Amendment Bill of 2015. Riette du Plessis reviews the appropriateness of some of the assessment models available in Clinical Legal Education courses within a South African environment and, finally, Sarah Fick and Paul van der Merwe critique the interpretation of the "cap provision" in section 17(4)(c) of the Road Accident Fund Act 56 of 1998 in Road Accident Fund v Sweatman (162/2014) [2015] ZASCA 22 (20 March 2015).