QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
●● The United Nations may exercise diplomatic protection over its
agents and it may
institute an action on their behalf..
Answer: True - This was confirmed by the ICJ in Reparation for Injuries
Suffered in the Service of the
United Nations 1949 ICJ Rep. By finding that the UN could in fact do
both, the ICJ
recognised that it was a subject of international law enjoying
international legal personality.
●● It was accepted by the court in S v Banda 1989 4 SA 519 (Bop) that
recognition by
other states is necessary before an entity may become a state..
Answer: False - In this case the court preferred the declaratory theory -
ie only the four objective
requirements in the Montevideo Convention must be met for an entity to
be considered a
state
●● Section 231(4) of Con.
,Answer: Any international agreement becomes law in the Republic when
it is enacted into law by national legislation; but a self-executing
provision of an agreement that
has been approved by Parliament is law in the Republic unless it is
inconsistent
with the Constitution or an Act of Parliament. Tells us when a treaty that
is binding on South Africa internationally becomes law in South Africa.
The process necessary to transpose a treaty from the international plane
to the national plane.
●● Section 231(1).
Answer: The negotiating and signing of all international agreements is
the responsibility
of the national executive.
●● Section 231(2).
Answer: An international agreement binds the Republic only after it has
been approved by
resolution in both the National Assembly and the National Council of
Provinces,
unless it is an agreement referred to in subsection (3).
●● Section 231(3).
Answer: An international agreement of a technical, administrative or
executive nature,
, or an agreement which does not require either ratifi cation or accession,
entered
into by the national executive, binds the Republic without approval by
the
National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, but must be
tabled
in the Assembly and the Council within a reasonable time.
●● Section 231(5).
Answer: The Republic is bound by international agreements which were
binding on the
Republic when the Constitution took eff ect.
●● self-executing treaty.
Answer: [A treaty] which does not in the view of the American courts
expressly or by its nature require legislation to make it operative within
the municipal field, and that is to be determined by regard to the
intention of the signatory parties and to the surrounding circumstances.
●● If a party therefore claims that a treaty is self-executing, the judicial
officer will have to determine.
Answer: (1) Whether the treaty has been concluded and binds SA
through parliamentary approval.
(2) Whether the treaty falls within one of the four exceptions in section
231(3) in which case it binds without parliamentary approval.