Extending the Life of the SADC Tribunal, Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe v Fick 2013 5 SA 325 (CC)

Abstract

Judgments delivered by the South African Constitutional Court on questions of international law always arouse great interest. One reason for this is that the Constitutional Court has decided relatively few cases on international law. Fortunately this is changing rapidly. The case of Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe v Fick has made a dramatic contribution to the way in which the South African courts treat foreign case law. In Fick the South African Constitutional Court dealt a blow to the government of Zimbabwe when, in a unanimous decision it ruled that property in South Africa owned by the Zimbabwean government could be sold to defray legal expenses in a human rights case. This note will highlight some of the unusual aspects of the Fick case and the extent to which the case has developed international law, something that has received relatively little scholarly attention but has made a powerful contribution to our jurisprudence.