The Role of Resource Constraints in State Liability for Omissions

Mila Harding

doi:10.25159/2522-6800/9081

Authors

Mila Harding University of the Witswatersrand https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0749-1274

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/2522-6800/9081

Keywords:

Constitutional law, State liability, resource constraints, feasibility constraints, delict, common law, negligent omissions

Abstract

The ambit of delictual liability against the State for negligent omissions resulting in physical harm has extended dramatically since the Constitutional Court case of Minister of Safety and Security v Carmichele. In such expansion, the courts have often mentioned that considerations regarding resource constraints play a role in the imputation of liability on the State, as well as in determining whether the State has been negligent. In examining four Constitutional Court cases from the period of 2013–2017, this article argues that the Constitutional Court’s approach to the State alleging resource constraints has largely been correct. Although many have seen the rapid expansion of liability as cause for concern (as public funds are increasingly being spent paying damages instead of improving public services) the Constitutional Court is correct in refusing to allow bald statements of resource constraints to defeat delictual claims or reduce damages in cases where the negligent omissions of the State have resulted in physical harm. In accordance with the value of accountability, where the State alleges it does not have the resources to fulfil its duties and prevent harm, the State must prove it.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Boonzaier L, ‘State Liability in South Africa: A More Direct Approach’ (2013) 130 South African Law Journal.

Cameron E, ‘Our Prisons are Failing. They need to become Correctional Facilities’ (GroundUp, 3 March 2020) <https://www.groundup.org.za/article/our-prisons-are-failing-they-need-become-correctional-facilities/ > accessed 27 July 2020.

Centre for Economic and Social Rights, SECTION27 and Institute for Economic Justice ‘Joint Submission to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the Occasion of the Review of South Africa’s First Period Report at the 64th Session, October 2018’ (CESR, October 2018) <https://www.cesr.org/sites/default/files/CESR-S27-IEJ%20submission%20FINAL-FINAL.pdf > accessed 25 July 2020.

Centre for Economic and Social Rights, Institute for Economic Justice, SECTION27 and SPII, ‘Austerity in the Midst of Inequality Threatens Human Rights’ (CESR, November 2018) <https://www.cesr.org/sites/default/files/FACTSHEET-Artwork-Online-Nov%206%20FINAL.pdf > accessed 29 July 2020.

Davis D and Klare K, ‘Transformative Constitutionalism and the Common and Customary Law’ (2010) 26 South African Journal of Human Rights <https://doi.org/10.1080/19962126.2010.11864997> DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19962126.2010.11864997

Du Bois F, ‘Human Rights and the Tort Liability of Public Authorities’ (2011) 127 Law Quarterly Review.

Du Bois F, ‘State Liability in South Africa: A Constitutional Remix’ (2010) 25 Tulane European and Civil Law Forum.

Fagan A, ‘Causation in the Constitutional Court: Lee v Minister of Correctional Services’ (2014) 5 Constitutional Court Review. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2989/CCR.2013.0005

Ferreira N, ‘Feasibility Constraints and the South African Bill of Rights: Fulfilling the Constitution's Promise in Conditions of Scarce Resources’ (2012) 129 South African Law Journal.

Kleyn D and Zitzke E, ‘The omissions in Oppelt’ (2018) 24 Fundamina <https://doi.org/10.17159/2411-7870/2018/v24n2a4> DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159/2411-7870/2018/v24n2a4

Liebenberg S, Socio-economic Rights: Adjudication under a Transformative Constitution (Juta 2010).

Maphumulo W and Bhengu B, ‘Challenges of Quality Improvement in the Healthcare of South Africa Post-apartheid: A Critical Review’ (2019) 42 Curationis <https://doi.org/10.4102/curationis.v42i1.1901> DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/curationis.v42i1.1901

Neethling J, Potgieter JM and Visser PJ, Neethling-Potgieter-Visser Law of Delict (7th edn, LexisNexis 2015).

Okpaluba C, ‘The Law of Bureaucratic Negligence in South Africa: A Comparative Commonwealth Perspective’ (2006) Acta Juridica.

Oosthuizen W and Carstens PA, ‘Medical malpractice: The Extent, Consequences and Causes of the Problem’ (2015) 78 Tydskrif vir Hedendaagse Romeins-Hollandse Reg .

Price A, ‘State Liability and Accountability’ in Michael Bishop & Alistair Price (eds), A Transformative Justice: Essays in Honour of Pius Langa (Juta 2015).

Price A, ‘Factual Causation after Lee’ (2014) 131 South African Law Journal.

Roederer C, ‘The Transformation of South African Private Law after Ten Years of Democracy: The Role of Torts (Delict) in the Consolidation of Democracy’ (2006) 37 Columbia Human Rights Law Review.

SECTION27 and Institute for Economic Justice ‘Fact sheet: Funding the Right to Health’ (SECTION27 2019) <http://section27.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2019-IEJ-S27-Health-Fact-Sheet.pdf on 3 August 2020>.

Scott TJ, ‘Revisiting the Elements of Delict: the Mashongwa Judgments’ (2016) 79 Tydskrif vir Hedendaagse Romeins-Hollandse Reg.

Wallis M, ‘Revel without a Cause – Delictual Liability after Lee? (2019) 136 South African Law Journal.

Wessels AB, ‘The Expansion of the State's Liability for Harm arising from Medical Malpractice: Underlying Reasons, Deleterious Consequences and Potential Reform’ (2019) Tydskrif vir die Suid¬ Afrikaanse Reg.

Wessels AB, ‘Wrongfulness in Pure Economic Loss Cases: the “Traditional Approach” and the “New Approach”’ (2020) 83(2) Tydskrif vir Hedendaagse Romeins-Hollandse Reg.

Wessels B, ‘Reconsidering the State's Liability for Harm arising from Crime: The potential development of the law of delict’ (2019) 30 Stellenbosch Law Review.

Zitzke E, ‘A New Proposed Methodology for Effecting Transformation in the Law of Delict’ (LLD thesis, University of Pretoria 2016).