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Raylene Keightley
Raylene May Keightley (born 19 November 1961) is a South African judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal. She was appointed to the bench in the Gauteng High Court in January 2016 after a career as a legal academic and practising lawyer. She was admitted as an attorney in 1986 and as an advocate in 2006. Born in the Eastern Cape, Keightley began her career at the University of Cape Town and University of the Witwatersrand, where she taught law between 1988 and 1999. Thereafter she spent seven years at the Asset Forfeiture Unit of the National Prosecuting Authority. From 2006 to 2015, she practised law at the Johannesburg Bar, with a stint as the director of the Centre for Applied Legal Studies between 2008 and 2011. She was appointed to the bench by President Jacob Zuma in 2016 and was elevated to the Supreme Court by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2024. Early life and education Keightley was born on 19 November 1961 in Kokstad in the former Cape Province. She matriculated at Um ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High Court Of South Africa
The High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law in South Africa. It is divided into nine provinces of South Africa, provincial divisions, some of which sit in more than one location. Each High Court division has general jurisdiction over a defined geographical area in which it is situated. The decisions of a division are binding on magistrates' court (South Africa), magistrates' courts within its area of jurisdiction. The High Court has jurisdiction over all matters, but it usually only hears civil matters involving more than 400,000 South African rand, rand, and serious criminal cases. It also hears any appeals or reviews from magistrates' courts and other lower courts. The court and its divisions are constituted in their current form by the Superior Courts Act, 2013. They replaced the previous separate High Courts, which had in 1997 replaced the provincial and local divisions of the former Supreme Court of South Africa and the supreme courts of the TBVC states ("Bantu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Prosecuting Authority
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is the agency of the South African Government responsible for state prosecutions. Under Section 179 of the South African Constitution and the National Prosecuting Authority Act of 1998, which established the NPA in 1998, the NPA has the power to institute criminal proceedings on behalf of the state and to carry out any necessary functions incidental to institution of criminal proceedings. The NPA is accountable to Parliament, and final responsibility over it lies with the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services. Structure On a national level, the NPA is headed by the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP). The NDPP is appointed by the President of South Africa for a term of 10 years. The NDPP is supported by a chief executive officer, a position which was filled by Marion Sparg from 2000 to 2007, and by four Deputy National Directors of Public Prosecutions. At the national level, there are also four Special Direc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freedom Of Religion South Africa V Minister Of Justice And Constitutional Development
''Freedom of Religion South Africa v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and Others'' is a decision of the Constitutional Court of South Africa which found that corporal punishment in the home is illegal. The court found that the common law defence of "moderate and reasonable chastisement" is unconstitutional, so that parents are no longer exempt from prosecution or conviction for assault for striking their children. The unanimous judgment was written by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng and handed down on 18 September 2019. Reactions to the decision were mixed. Freedom of Religion South Africa, the Christian lobbying group which had been party to the case, described the decision as "dangerous" and "destructive". It was welcomed by children's rights groups including Save the Children South Africa and the Children's Institute at the University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, Sout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constitutional Court Of South Africa
The Constitutional Court of South Africa is the supreme constitutional court established by the Constitution of South Africa, and is the apex court in the South African judicial system, with general jurisdiction. The Court was first established by the Interim Constitution of 1993, and its first session began in February 1995. It has continued in existence under the Constitution of 1996. The Court sits in the city of Johannesburg. After initially occupying commercial offices in Braamfontein, it now sits in a purpose-built complex on Constitution Hill. The first court session in the new complex was held in February 2004. Originally the final appellate court for constitutional matters, since the enactment of the Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution in 2013, the Constitutional Court has jurisdiction to hear any matter if it is in the interests of justice for it to do so. The Constitutional Court consists of eleven judges who are appointed by the President of South Af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Best Interests Of The Child
Best interests or best interests of the child is a child rights principle, which derives from Article 3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which says that "in all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration". Assessing the best interests of a child means to evaluate and balance "all the elements necessary to make a decision in a specific situation for a specific individual child or group of children". Definition According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, assessing the best interests of a child means to evaluate and balance "all the elements necessary to make a decision in a specific situation for a specific individual child or group of children". Due to the diversity of factors to consider, usually more than one profession or institution is involved in the assessment ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South African Criminal Law
South African criminal law is the body of national law relating to crime in South Africa. In the definition of Van der Walt ''et al.'', a crime is "conduct which Common law, common or statute law prohibits and expressly or impliedly subjects to punishment remissible by the state alone and which the offender cannot avoid by his own act once he has been convicted." Crime involves the infliction of harm against society. The function or object of criminal law is to provide a social mechanism with which to coerce members of society to abstain from conduct that is harmful to the interests of society. In South Africa, as in most Adversarial system, adversarial legal systems, the standard of evidence required to validate a criminal conviction is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The sources of South African criminal law are to be found in the common law, in case law and in legislation. Criminal law (which is to be distinguished from its South African civil law, civil counterpart) forms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corporal Punishment In The Home
Physical or corporal punishment by a parent or other legal guardian is any act causing deliberate physical pain or discomfort to a minor child in response to some undesired behavior. It typically takes the form of spanking or slapping the child with an open hand or striking with an implement such as a belt, slipper, cane, hairbrush, paddle, whip, or hanger. On a looser definition, it can also include shaking, pinching, forced ingestion of substances, or forcing children to stay in uncomfortable positions. Social acceptance of corporal punishment is high in countries where it remains lawful, particularly among more traditional groups. In many cultures, parents have historically been regarded as having the right, if not the duty, to physically punish misbehaving children in order to teach appropriate behavior or to stop inappropriate behavior immediately or in the short run. Many studies, on the other hand, have found that corporal punishment may have the opposite effect in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judicial Service Commission (South Africa)
The Judicial Service Commission is a body specially constituted by the South African Constitution to recommend persons for appointment to the judiciary of South Africa. History In apartheid South Africa, judges were appointed by the President, usually on the direction of the Minister of Justice, and behind closed doors. During the constitutional negotiations, it was decided that the President's power should be moderated by a special body relatively insulated from partisan interests. It was to be composed of a number of politicians, from both the ruling party and the opposition, and non-politicians, and would conduct public interviews. The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) was therefore created by the Interim Constitution. The JSC is now regulated by section 178 of the final Constitution (and by the Judicial Service Commission Act 9 of 1994). Composition In terms of section 178(1) of the Constitution, the JSC is usually composed of 25 members. This membership is divided more o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pretoria
Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothills of the Magaliesberg mountains. It has a reputation as an academic city and centre of research, being home to the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), the University of Pretoria (UP), the University of South Africa (UNISA), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and the Human Sciences Research Council. It also hosts the National Research Foundation (South Africa), National Research Foundation and the South African Bureau of Standards. Pretoria was one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Pretoria is the central part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality which was formed by the amalgamation of several former local authorities, including B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Advocates In South Africa
An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, in Scottish, Manx, South African, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Scandinavian, Polish, Israeli, South Asian and South American jurisdictions, "advocate" indicates a lawyer of superior classification. "Advocate" is in some languages an honorific for lawyers, such as " Adv. Sir Alberico Gentili". "Advocate" also has the everyday meaning of speaking out to help someone else, such as patient advocacy or the support expected from an elected politician; this article does not cover those senses. Europe United Kingdom and Crown dependencies England and Wales In England and Wales, Advocates and proctors practiced civil law in the Admiralty Courts and also, but in England only, in the ecclesiastical courts of the Church of Engl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Attorneys In South Africa
In South Africa, Career guide to the legal profession in South Africa lssa.org.za Attorneys are who provide and representation to clients, aiding individuals and businesses in their legal dealings, and as required, handling [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest city by population, after Johannesburg, and the largest city in the Western Cape. The city is part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality. The city is known for Port of Cape Town, its harbour, its natural setting in the Cape Floristic Region, and for landmarks such as Table Mountain and Cape Point. In 2014, Cape Town was named the best place in the world to visit by ''The New York Times'', and was similarly ranked number one by ''The Daily Telegraph'' in both 2016 and 2023. Located on the shore of Table Bay, the City Bowl area of Cape Town, which contains its Cape Town CBD, central business district (CBD), is History of Cape Town, the oldest urban area in the Western Cape, with a signi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
