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An assessment of the delay rule in judicial reviews by organs of state seeking to review their own administrative acts

Mini dissertation (LLM (Constitutional and Administrative law))--University of Pretoria, 2021.

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Other Authors: Murcott, Melanie
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2021
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Murcott, Melanie
author_browse Murcott, Melanie
author_facet Murcott, Melanie
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Mini dissertation (LLM (Constitutional and Administrative law))--University of Pretoria, 2021.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:37:44.900Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2021
publishDateRange 2021
publishDateSort 2021
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/80968 An assessment of the delay rule in judicial reviews by organs of state seeking to review their own administrative acts Murcott, Melanie makgati.makgatho@gmail.com Makgatho, Makgati UCTD Administrative Law Constitutional Law Law articles SDG-08 Law articles SDG-16 Law articles SDG-17 Mini dissertation (LLM (Constitutional and Administrative law))--University of Pretoria, 2021. This dissertation argues that applying a flexible delay rule to self-reviews of administrative acts under the principle of legality facilitates enhanced state accountability and contributes to upholding the rule of law. This flexibility is particularly important amidst allegations of widespread corruption and maladministration in South Africa that necessitate strong accountability mechanisms. Public functionaries are granted express power to participate in commercial transactions in the public interest. When this power is exercised unlawfully, the state has an opportunity to remedy its unlawful administrative acts through the court process of judicial review. The delay rule requires judicial reviews to be instituted without unreasonable delay. Courts must pronounce on the issue of delay prior to considering the unlawfulness of a public act. After defining the delay rule in the context of self-reviews, this study compares the delay rule set out in the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA) with the delay rule under the principle of legality. Through case law, this research establishes that the PAJA delay rule is applied rigidly by courts. This rigidity has led to courts dismissing self-reviews after finding that a public functionary's review application was instituted unreasonably late and the delay could not be overlooked in terms of PAJA. The dismissal has meant that the impugned public act was neither declared unlawful nor set aside, undermining accountability and the rule of law. This study finds that the application of a less strict delay rule under legality in self-reviews enables courts to declare public acts in contravention with the Constitution unlawful notwithstanding an unreasonable delay in pursuit of accountability and the rule of law. rz2025 Public Law LLM (Constitutional and Administrative law) Unrestricted SDG-08: Decent work and economic growth SDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions SDG-17: Partnerships for the goals 2021-07-23T12:40:23Z 2021-07-23T12:40:23Z 2021 2021 Mini Dissertation * S2021 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/80968 en © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Administrative Law
Constitutional Law
Law articles SDG-08
Law articles SDG-16
Law articles SDG-17
An assessment of the delay rule in judicial reviews by organs of state seeking to review their own administrative acts
title An assessment of the delay rule in judicial reviews by organs of state seeking to review their own administrative acts
title_full An assessment of the delay rule in judicial reviews by organs of state seeking to review their own administrative acts
title_fullStr An assessment of the delay rule in judicial reviews by organs of state seeking to review their own administrative acts
title_full_unstemmed An assessment of the delay rule in judicial reviews by organs of state seeking to review their own administrative acts
title_short An assessment of the delay rule in judicial reviews by organs of state seeking to review their own administrative acts
title_sort assessment of the delay rule in judicial reviews by organs of state seeking to review their own administrative acts
topic UCTD
Administrative Law
Constitutional Law
Law articles SDG-08
Law articles SDG-16
Law articles SDG-17
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/80968