Browsing by Subject "Private law"

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    Comparative private law 1998 Dale Hutchison, UCT
    (1999) Rolla, Olaf
    In any major building project many parties are involved, and the various contractual and other legal relationships become complex and require careful analysis. 1 The legal rights and obligations of the building parties like the employer2; the main contractor3; the sub-contractors; the architect; the quantity surveyor; the clerk of works; and all the specialists depend on each other or at least can influence and affect each other. Often engineering and building works will overlap, intermingle, or are based on each other. The breach of contractual or delictual duties by one building party can have an essential impact on the economical legal interests of other parties connected with the construction project. Not only the contractual parties themselves but everyone who is involved in the building process is in danger to suffer damage. Hence, especially and typio/71y in the building industry third parties may suffer pure economic loss as a result of negligent acts of one party which is not bound by a building contract in relation to the person suffering damage. Because of the multi-party involvement in design and construction few of the involved parties are in contractual relationship with each other, and owners are tempted to recover repair costs and associated consequential losses by seeking to shift the responsibility on those who are insured or financially secure. Liability for negligent acts causing pure financial loss is generally a legal problem that plagues many legal systems.
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    Comparative private law: online defamation and service provider liability- a comparative study
    (1998) Bezzenberger, Julia; Hutchison, Dale
    "The Internet is a unique and wholly new medium of world-wide human communication." 1 It enables people to communicate with one another with unprecedented speed and efficiency and is rapidly revolutionising how people share and receive information. From the time when the first vacuum tube computers were introduced in the 1950s it took the U.S. Department of Defence only until 1969 to create the Internet. At that time their goal was to create a decentralised system to protect data and communication in the advent of a thermonuclear war. But they had started a development that could not be stopped anymore. Overtime, the Internet evolved as a world-wide network of government, academic and commercial computer systems and databases linking academics, scientists and government officials. 2 Despite this dramatic growth, it was only in this decade that individuals outside of these spheres used the Internet. Today computers and modems are irreplaceable items of everyday life and the Internet has grown faster than anyone, even its greatest proponents, could have imagined. It is not only the preferred mode of communication for millions of people, but also a source of vast information. Individual users send messages across cyberspace, browse online magazines and newsletters, and participate in "chat rooms", discussing topics with others who share similar interests. One can buy plane tickets, take classes, order nearly eve1ything or publish whatever one wants to let the world know.
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    Enhancing access to justice in Zimbabwe: an empirical exploration of integrating socially appropriate dispute resolution to overcome barriers within the formal justice system
    (2024) Maraire, Wesley; Paleker, Mohamed
    Colonialism introduced common law in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The colonial regime subsequently relegated indigenous laws, rules, and epistemologies to the status of informality, except for those that did not offend European notions of justice and morality. Despite colonial onslaughter, relegated ways of life continued guiding the majority Black population, albeit informally. This established Zimbabwe as a plural legal country. Against this background, this study explores factors impeding citizens from accessing the formal justice system, preventing them from obtaining outcomes they consider fair. Semistructured interviews with diverse legal professionals revealed a range of barriers preventing citizens from obtaining effective access to justice. Research participants identified the colonial common law system, with its emphasis on general law courts and litigation as a significant barrier to access to justice for the majority Black African population, whose traditional approaches to dispute resolution contrast with this adversarial system. Consequently, most citizens rely on non-state dispute resolution platforms that lack the force of law. This thesis also explores various ways of enhancing access to justice for citizens, including the poor and small businesses in Zimbabwe. The data revealed that the most significant solution is embracing normative conceptions of law, justice, and institutionalising socially appropriate dispute resolution processes that are culturally and geographically close to the people. Throughout the thesis, case studies, primarily from Australia and South Africa provide a comparative lens for analysing the empirical data. These countries share a history of British colonial rule and have set a path to extend access to justice to Indigenous populations, which provides a blueprint for Zimbabwe. This thesis concludes by drawing together empirical data and process theory to develop a justice system that overcomes Zimbabwe's current access to justice challenges.