The Comparative And International Law Journal Of Southern Africa

Covers the period 1967-1980s.

A comprehensive and in-depth analysis of how courts in the countries of Commonwealth Africa decide claims under private international law.

In many African countries, litigants experience significant uncertainty in their attempts to enforce foreign judgments. Drawing on the experiences of the United Kingdom and the United States (vis-à-vis efforts to attain an effective global legal framework on foreign judgments), this book undertakes a comparative analysis of how South African and Nigerian courts can promote the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in a fair manner. This comparative analysis is made considering both African countries as paradigms of their respective legal traditions. The author, a legal consultant and academic in private international law analyses, stage by stage, the challenging process that litigants face when they seek to enforce foreign judgments in South Africa and Nigeria. This analysis includes insightful consideration of broader issues such as the following: how challenges faced by judgment creditors may be circumvented; practical issues impeding the free movement of foreign judgments; impact of globalisation, increase in international commercial transactions, and regionalism on private international law; application of ‘fairness’; how territorial sovereignty and State interests in international commerce impede the free movement of foreign judgments; and ‘qualified obligation’, under which courts would presumptively enforce foreign judgments subject to certain exceptions and to the balancing of competing interests between private litigants and the State. The comparative analysis is undergirded by relevant case law – spanning decades in Africa and centuries in Europe and the United States. In summary, the author projects a clear case for predictability and certainty in the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, as well as how to go about it, thus offering lawyers a strategic position to weigh their options in contemplating enforcement of foreign judgments in any jurisdiction even beyond the African region. This innovative approach will also be of particular value to policymakers at national levels, international and regional economic organisations, as well as scholars in private international law and international commercial law generally. This is regardless of their specific legal area or niche, especially considering the dearth of literature in African private international law.

Includes annual "Review of legislation" covering the years 1859-1949.

In terms of the South African Constitution of 1996 there is a general need for an introduction to comparative law and one that covers what is technically known as applied comparative law; more particularly applied comparative law that involves a study of the bills of rights in other countries.

This book provides a comprehensive and comparative examination of private international law in Commonwealth Africa. It offers an unrivalled breadth of coverage in its examination of the law in Botswana, the Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The book is clearly and logically structured - it is organised around broad themes or issues, with country reports and accompanied by detailed commentaries. Drawing on nearly 1500 cases decided by courts in these countries and numerous national statutes, this book covers the four cornerstones of private international law: jurisdiction, choice of law, foreign judgements and arbitral awards enforcement, and international civil procedure. The author also provides an extensive bibliography of the literature on African private international law. Scholars and practitioners alike will find Private International Law in Commonwealth Africa invaluable and illuminating.

Although the Global South represents 'most of the world' in terms of constitutions and population, it is underrepresented in comparative constitutional discourse. This book fills the gap in this scholarship by tackling the most important aspects of comparative law from the Southern perspective.