The Environmental Case Law Index is a collection of judgments from 10 African countries on topics relating to environmental law, both substantive and procedural. The collection focuses on cases where an environmental interest interacts with governmental or private interests.
Get started on finding judgments that are relevant to you by browsing the topic list on the left of the screen. Click the arrows next to the topic names to reveal a detailed list of sub-topics. Most judgments are accompanied by a short summary written by subject-area expert postgraduate students from the University of Cape Town.
Read also JIFA's Environmental Country Reports for SADC
R v Lelingoana (CRI/A/60/82) (CRI/A/60/82) [1982] LSCA 83 (05 November 1982); 
EL Index Procedural Fairness Justice and fairness Civil Procedure Public interest in environment Environmental decision-making Environmental law Plants, forests and forestry (flora) Flora and fauna Environmental law African customary law and rights of indigenous peoples Human and environmental rights Environmental lawThis was an appeal before the High Court where the appellant a chief, had been charged before the subordinate court for 35 counts of theft by false pretences. The appellant falsely claimed that he was a representative of the Principal Chief and had been authorised by him to impose and receive fines of cash and small stock from persons who had failed to remove their animals from certain reserved grazing area.
The question was whether the appellant contravened Legal Notice Number 39 of 1980 namely, Range Management and Grazing Control Regulations published in Gazette Number 36 of 10 October 1980 (Supplement Number 4). The Principal Chief of the area gave evidence and denied that he ever authorised the appellant to act, as he did, and the court concluded that the appellant lied. The judge confirmed the conviction on 18 counts but set aside the sentences imposed by the learned magistrate as they were considered lenient. Accordingly, on 18 counts the appellant was sentenced to one-year imprisonment, each to run concurrently, the whole of which was suspended for a period of two years on condition that during the period of the said suspension he is not convicted of an offence involving dishonesty. The appellant was sentenced on two counts to a period of two years imprisonment on each count. Half the sentence was suspended for a period of two years on condition that during the period of the said suspension he was not convicted of an offence involving dishonesty.
Letsoela and Another v Letsoela (CIV/A/17/81) (CIV/A/17/81) [1983] LSCA 80 (02 September 1983); EL Index Injunction Injuctions and interdicts Civil Remedies Plants, forests and forestry (flora) Flora and fauna Environmental law African customary law and rights of indigenous peoples Human and environmental rights Environmental lawMoetsana v Tsikoana (CIV/A/11/1980) [1981] LSHC 55 (28 September 1981); EL Index Judicial Review Appeals and reviews Civil Procedure Abuse of Process Conduct of proceedings Civil Procedure Functus Officio Conclusion of proceedings Civil Procedure Administrative Review Administrative Law Plants, forests and forestry (flora) Flora and fauna Environmental lawThe matter dealt with an appeal in which the respondent had commenced proceedings in the Local Court against the appellant and his mother for trespassing in a forest. The appellant denied the trespass and claimed that the forest had belonged to his father and that he was the heir. The court delivered a very confusing judgement which was hard to comprehend and so the respondent sought an appeal that would see the Magistrate’s Court revisit the matter.
The magistrate reviewed and set aside the matter issuing a new judgement. The principal question was if the magistrate had the power to review the matter from the local court.
Section 26 of the Central and Local Courts Proclamation granted magistrates the power to review matters but that such a magistrate must not constitute himself a court of appeal and arbitrarily interfere with the working of the lower court. He was empowered to ensure that there were no irregularities on the face of the proceedings or prejudice or bias in a decision given by the President of a Local or Central Court only.
The court in this matter therefore, found that the magistrate, by setting aside the decision of the local court and delivering an alternative judgment was exercising an appellate function which was beyond its authority. The court found that it could not consider issues of law in the present matter and referred the matter back to the local court for review as should have been done by the magistrate.
Hlasa v Patsi (CIV/A/32/2013) [2014] LSHC 62 (11 May 2014); EL Index Locus standi in environmental litigation Litigation of environmental issues Environmental law Plants, forests and forestry (flora) Flora and fauna Environmental law Constitutional Interpretation Constitutional LawHlasa v Patsi (NULL) [2016] LSCA 43 (28 October 2016); EL Index Locus standi in environmental litigation Litigation of environmental issues Environmental law Procedural Fairness Justice and fairness Civil Procedure Plants, forests and forestry (flora) Flora and fauna Environmental law Class actions (environmental) Litigation of environmental issues Environmental law Constitutional Supremacy Constitutional LawThis was an appeal in the Court of Appeal against a judgment of the High Court which had dismissed an appeal to it against a judgment of the Judicial Commissioner’s Court, the effect of which was to uphold a decision of a local court. The issue concerned the removal of wood from a plantation by the appellant, which the respondent contended belonged to the community of which he was a headman. The appellant’s reasoning that the plantation was situated in his grandfather’s field was rejected by the court which ordered the appellant to desist from using the plantation and never to use it. The appellant was not satisfied with the ruling, so he appealed unsuccessfully, first to the Central Court, then to the Judicial Commissioner’s Court and finally to the High Court.
The issue for the court’s consideration was whether the local court had the jurisdiction to hear the matter.
The court observed that the matter concerned provisions of the Chieftainship Act 22 of 1968 pursuant to which the judge held that the finding by the Office of the Chief did not preclude the appellant from seeking recourse in the Local Court. The court upheld the High Court judge’s view that the dispute between the parties was not a dispute involving claims to; title, exemption from title, or overriding title. Therefore, the submission that the dispute must be dealt with in the Land Court or the District Land Court was not upheld. The appeal was dismissed with costs.
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