dc.description.abstract |
Although environmental law is a relatively a new field of scholarship in South Africa, it is
growing rapidly. The right to access to social security including environmental rights is
found in the South African Bill of Rights, is being amplified by legislative and
constitutional reforms, and developing case law in the courts. There is therefore a clear
need to increase the understanding f the discipline through systematic research and
teaching at various levels1. The notion of including an “environmental right” in a
domestic constitution is not novel in Africa. Most African countries have incorporated a
constitutional provision that ensures the right to a healthy environment. Most of the
problems that exists with environmental rights under the international and regional
systems are absent under the domestic South African system. The way in which
environmental rights have been formulated in international instruments, section 24 of the
South African Constitution has been framed as an individual right and not as a collective
one. Environmental degration often affects groups of people and it could consequently
argued that the right should protect groups and not just individuals2.
1 |
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