UKZN Representatives attend Administrative Law Conference

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The Administrative Justice Association of South Africa (AdJASA) recently held its annual conference at Salt Rock Beach Hotel just north of Durban.

Attending the two day conference were Acting Dean and Head of the School of Law Professor Warren Freedman and Law Lecturers Professor Michael Kidd and Dr Paul Swanepoel.

The conference guest of honour was UKZN’s School of Law Honorary Professor, Judge Malcolm Wallis, who gave a keynote address on the topic: The Impact of Judicial Review on the Doctrine of the Separation of Powers.

AdJASA is a non-profit association that aims to promote administrative justice in South Africa. It provides the right to fair administrative action, which is found in section 33 of the country’s Constitution.

‘The conference aimed at sharing thoughts and ideas about administrative law in the country, to identify strengths and weaknesses and to discuss the significance of these, and how to improve the law,’ said Kidd.

‘It also facilitates networking among people involved in administrative law in the country,’ he added.

Kidd, who participated in drawing up the conference programme, presented a paper titled: Relevant and Irrelevant Considerations Through an Environmental Law Lens, which highlighted environmental law decisions, which constitute administrative action, by taking into account  relevant considerations which present significant challenges to administrators.

Swanepoel also presented a paper titled: The Nature and Effect of the Public Protector’s findings and Remedial Action.

The conference closed with a panel discussion that tackled current challenges in the pursuit of administrative justice and the road ahead.

The panelists were Judge Wallis, Law Lecturer at Wits University Professor Cora Hoexter and Professor Geo Quinot from Stellenbosch University

Freedman described the conference as very stimulating and added that he found that the papers were of a high standard.

‘I particularly appreciated the fact that there was a good mix of academics and practicing lawyers amongst the presenters. This means that the papers provided both academic and practical insights with respect to the topics.

‘Finally, I also wanted to say that the keynote address delivered by Judge Wallis was a real tour de force. It was very scholarly and interesting,’ said Freedman.

Words by: Sibonelo Shinga