Making a case for the establishment of specialised environmental courts in South Africa

Abstract

This thesis considered the benefits of establishing specialised environmental courts in South Africa. The thesis analysed the functioning of four existing specialised courts in South Africa – the Labour Court, the Land Claims Court, the Sexual Offences Court, and the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court and also undertook a comparative analysis of two specialised environmental courts in New South Wales and Kenya to extrapolate useful attributes and best practices that can be adopted in the proposed specialised environmental court in South Africa. Two court models were established as being suitable for South Africa. Recommendations were made for the rollout of the most feasible court model on a pilot basis in Gauteng. Recommendations were further made for new legislation and legislative amendments to current legislation required to establish the two models.