CALS: Under certain circumstances, directives from SAHRC need to be legally binding

The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) says directives from the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) need to be legally binding under certain circumstances in order for it to fulfil its constitutional mandate.

This ahead of a case set to come before the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) next week, in which the commission is seeking a declaratory order to the effect that its directives are legally binding.

In 2022, the High Court in Mbombela dismissed the commission’s case, finding that neither the Constitution nor the SAHRC Act vested the commission with “penal power” in respect of human rights violations.

The commission has since escalated the matter to the SCA.

CALS is hoping to be admitted as a friend of the court in the case.

The centre said it wants to make submissions around “regional and international law that guide states in establishing national human rights institutions”, and how “these instruments emphasise the importance of making recommendations by these institutions binding in particular circumstances”.

It said as “an avenue for vulnerable and marginalised communities to access remedies when their rights are violated”, it’s important that the commission’s directives have binding legal effect in appropriate circumstances.

The case is set to be heard next week Tuesday.

-EWN

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