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13 - The South African Constitution – Standards of Environmental Protection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 May 2019

Stephen J. Turner
Affiliation:
University of Lincoln
Dinah L. Shelton
Affiliation:
George Washington University, Washington DC
Jona Razzaque
Affiliation:
University of the West of England, Bristol
Owen McIntyre
Affiliation:
University College Cork
James R. May
Affiliation:
Widener University School of Law, Delaware
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Summary

The post-apartheid 1996 Constitution of South Africa provides a right to a healthy environment and to have the environment protected. These provisions have led to a small number of cases that, to a limited degree, have helped to clarify the approach of the courts to the procedural and substantive aspects of this right. South Africa, like many other sub-Saharan African countries, faces particular environmental challenges, especially related to access to water. But unlike most other countries, the South African Constitution also provides a right of access to sufficient water, which has also given rise to some limited litigation. This chapter will survey the case law relevant to both rights, to shed light on the degree to which precise standards related to those rights have been acknowledged in the jurisprudence. The chapter also considers the manner in which the courts have treated the environmental right and the right of access to sufficient water in the light of certain international guidelines, and how the right to water and the environmental right interrelate.
Type
Chapter
Information
Environmental Rights
The Development of Standards
, pp. 286 - 308
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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