An analysis of locus standi in public interest litigation with specific reference to environmental law : a comparative study between the law of South Africa and the law of the United States of America

Abstract

The concept of standing in public interest litigation has not received much attention and analysis post South Africa’s Constitutional era. This dissertation begins with a discussion of the jurisprudence of the South African courts in relation to locus standi since the early 1900s up until the year 1993. The purpose of the discussion is to illustrate the profound transformation the concept of standing in public interest litigation has undergone after the promulgation of the Constitution. A comparison is then made with the legal position on this question with the United States of America, a country that has been dubbed as the most democratic and liberal in the world which has a Bill of Rights dating back some 200 years. The case law of the US Supreme Court is dealt with, followed by the most important trends of academic criticism of this case law. This forms the basis of an informed comparison in relation to the question of locus standi between the two jurisdictions. It is argued towards the end that the locus standi dispensation in public interest litigation that has emerged in South Africa is the better of the two. Copyright