Abstract
The increased authority of the legislator under authoritarian conditions has been studied in depth by David Dyzenhaus in his study of the South African Appellate Division under apartheid. Dyzenhaus rejects positivism as an explanation for judicial acquiescence of oppressive measures by the rulers in power. Instead, he accredits it to what he calls the “plain fact approach”. In the plain fact approach, law is applied as it exists and not according to what morality requires. The judge “looks to a pattern that exists as a matter of historical fact in the legal acts and decisions of the past, mainly those of the legislator”. The pattern to be applied is the result of an intentional design by the actual authors of the acts, the holders of power over legislation.
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Notes
- 1.
Dyzenhaus (2010), p. 48.
- 2.
See Dugard (1987), p. 491.
- 3.
Dyzenhaus (2010), pp. 61–69.
- 4.
Cassem v. Oos-Kaapse Kommittee van die Groepsgebiedraad 1959 (3) SA 651 (A).
- 5.
Minister of the Interior v. Lockhat 1961 (2) SA 587 (A).
- 6.
Roussouw v. Sachs 1964 (2) SA 551 (A).
- 7.
Dyzenhaus (2010), p. 81.
- 8.
See Rüthers (2012), pp. 178–185.
- 9.
Dyzenhaus (2010), p. 85.
- 10.
Rüthers (2012), p. 174.
- 11.
- 12.
Rüthers (2012), p. 174.
- 13.
Rüthers (2012), p. 443.
- 14.
Arendt (2003), pp. 44–45.
- 15.
See Angermund (1990), pp. 66–67.
- 16.
Hilbink (2008), p. 115.
- 17.
Garbe (2000), pp. 106–107.
- 18.
Cover (1974), p. 6.
- 19.
Cover (1974), p. 198.
- 20.
Cover (1974), p. 229.
- 21.
Dyzenhaus (2010), p. 82.
- 22.
Dyzenhaus (2010), pp. 266–270.
- 23.
Rehnquist (1998), Kindle edition loc. 3670.
- 24.
Dyzenhaus (2010), p. 171.
- 25.
See Judgment of the Court of the European Union (Fifth Chamber) of 7 May 2002 in Case C-478/99, European Court reports 2002, p. I-04147.
- 26.
Eckhoff (2001).
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Graver, H.P. (2015). Alternative Approaches to Legal Interpretation. In: Judges Against Justice. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44293-7_16
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