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.
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Moneuoa v Moneuoa (C OF A (CIV) 42/2014) [2015] LSCA 6 (07 August 2015); 
EL Index African customary law and rights of indigenous peoples Human and environmental rights Environmental law Intergenerational and intra-generational equity Concepts and principles Environmental lawThis was an appeal against the order of the High Court that required the appellant to pay M52 900.00 to the respondent. This money was received by the appellant from the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority as compensation for the expropriation of land allotted to the respondent by his widowed mother.
The appellant and respondent, a nephew and uncle, occupied two adjacent properties. These properties were inherited by the appellant’s father and the respondent from their widowed mother in 1964. The court considered firstly, whether the respondent’s mother had a right at law to allocate the land to the appellant’s father and the respondent. Secondly, the court considered whether payment of the compensation ought to have been allocated to the parties in accordance with the portions of land that they occupied.
The court found that there was nothing in law, whether customary law or common law, prohibiting the widow (the respondent’s mother) from making the allotment that she did as it was designed to ensure that, during her lifetime, her sons exercised her rights in and over the fields. The court also found that although there was evidence to show that both properties were registered under the appellant’s father’s name, it was clear that the respondent was occupier and user of the disputed field since 1964, and was therefore entitled to receive compensation.
Accordingly, the appeal was dismissed with costs.
Patrick Musimba v National Land Commission & 4 others [2015] eKLR (Petition 613 of 2014); (05 June 2015); EL Index African customary law and rights of indigenous peoples Human and environmental rights Environmental law Declaratory Relief Civil Remedies Public interest in environment Environmental decision-making Environmental law Environmental duties Concepts and principles Environmental law Constitutional Interpretation Constitutional LawLedidi Ole Tauta & Others v Attorney General & 2 others [2015] eKLR (Constitutional Petition 47 of 2010); (15 April 2015); EL Index Public interest in environment Environmental decision-making Environmental law Declaratory Relief Civil Remedies African customary law and rights of indigenous peoples Human and environmental rights Environmental law Environmental duties Concepts and principles Environmental law Constitutional Interpretation Constitutional LawParkire Stephen Munkasio & 14 others (suing on their own behalf and behalf of their families and all the members of the maasai community living on land reference no.8396(i.r 11977) situated in kedong) v Kedong Ranch Limited & 8 others [2 EL Index Public interest in environment Environmental decision-making Environmental law Declaratory Relief Civil Remedies African customary law and rights of indigenous peoples Human and environmental rights Environmental law Rationality Principles Administrative Law Environmental duties Concepts and principles Environmental law Constitutional Interpretation Constitutional Law |
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