How far will the courts go in ensuring the right to a basic education?

Abstract

Gazing into the crystal ball of socio-economic rights jurisprudence in 1998, former Chief Justice Ismael Mahomed speculated about a difficulty the courts may face in adjudicating socio-economic rights. The difficulty that he identified was that enforcement of the relevant right may not only involve a negative protection against the violation of a particular right, but also the duty to deliver that right. A court order of this nature might compel the legislature to reorganise their priorities or budgets in a manner that affects the rights of others. He selected a hypothetical example in the field of education law.