Focus: The Constitutional Court's 1999 Term (original) (raw)
2000, South African Journal on Human Rights
As one learns to expect in constitutional law, matters of the greatest importance for a country's constitutional, political and economic life often arrive at court dressed in the drabbest factual garments. Putting this consideration aside and at the risk of exaggeration, the core issue in the Liquor Bill case was nothing less than the continued economic unity of South Africa. Against the backdrop of the creation in recent years of the new economy (characterised by the advent of black-empowerment initiatives, public-private partnerships and efforts at privatisation of state-owned assets), the national government's much-needed powers of regulation were about to be tested and defined. What the Liquor Bill 131 of 1998-introduced in the National Assembly on 31 August 1998-sought to achieve was summarised for the Court by Cameron AJ in the following terms: (a) the prohibition on cross-holdings between the three tiers involved in the liquor trade, namely producers, distributors and retailers; (b) the establishment of uniform conditions, in a single system, for the national registration of liquor manufacturers and distributors; and, in a further attempt at establishing national uniformity within the liquor trade, (c) the prescription of detailed mechanisms to provincial legislatures for the establishment of retail licensing mechanisms. 1 I Ex parte President of the Republic of South Africa: In re Constitutionality of the Liquor Bi/12000 (I) SA 732 (CC) para 69 (Liquor Bill). 283 8 'The question', stated Cameron AJ, 'is whether the substance of this legislation falls within the excluded field of "liquor licences", in which case the justifications itemised in s 44(2) [of the 1996 Constitution] will have to be shown; or whether it falls within a permitted competence of Parliament even without such justification.' Liquor Bill (note I above) para 68. 9 Ibid para 36.
Related papers
Reform of the Regulation of Liquor*
Economic Papers: A journal of applied economics and policy, 2010
This article reviews the tax bases and rates currently applied to alcoholic beverages in Australia. It then considers changes to the tax base and rates. It advocates a single volumetric base with the rate at least equal to that currently levied on spirits other than brandy. However, improved taxes on alcoholic beverages cannot eliminate the externals harms imposed by some drinkers on other persons. The guiding principle for reform of both taxes and other regulations is that they should focus on the small minority of drinkers who cause harm. Effective policy reform will require careful policy design and a commitment from politicians. Some reforms are mooted.
The Economics of Regulation of Alcohol Distribution and Consumption in Victoria
The Australian Economic Review, 1985
This article examines critically the present structure of regulation of the liquor industry in Victoria. This is a mixture of detailed regulation of liquor supply conditions through the licensing of outlets and of taxation and other regulation of consumption activities. It examines the justification for regulation in some form which derives from socially harmful consequences of alcohol consumption such as drink driving and nuisance actions. The present controls are seen to be largely ineffective because they are not targetted closely to the activities which cause social harm. Substantial changes to the licensing system and other policies are recommended.
Review of codes established under the Liquor Licensing Act 1997
In 2012 and 2013 following extensive stakeholder consultation, a Late Night Trading Code of Practice and a General Code of Practice were established under the Liquor Licensing Act 1997 . The Codes regulate the drinking environment and aim to encourage responsible service and consumption of alcohol, and, ultimately, to reduce the impact of alcohol-related harm. The Liquor Licensing Act 1997 requires a review into the operation of these Codes after 12 months. This Report provides the findings of the Review, as well as a series of recommendations for improving the operations of the Codes. Although there is a focus on the Late Night Trading Code and its 3:00am lockout provision, the provisions of both codes were reviewed. The methodology of the Review included six main activities: collection and analysis of health, police and licensee compliance data; consultations including focus groups, interviews and written submissions with 23 stakeholder groups; online surveys; a literature review; jurisdictional comparison; and general research. The findings are organised around five themes; effectiveness, unintended consequences; level of support; suggestions for change and compliance and implementation. The analysis confirmed trends in earlier data that since the introduction of the Late Night Code there has been a statistically significant decline in alcohol-related offending and hospital presentations in the CBD. The Code has had a positive impact on this decline. However, because it is likely that other factors were in play in the same period, it is not possible to determine with certainty the extent of this impact. A clear majority of stakeholders expressed a high level of support for the Codes. These included representatives from the health sector, police, local government, universities focusing on alcohol research, social services groups and people who work or reside in the CBD. A number of unintended consequences following the introduction of the Code were raised, particularly by respondents to the community survey. These are set out in the body of the Report. People who reported working at and/or going out to late night venues, and to a lesser extent licensees, showed a low level of support for the Late Night Code overall. Support was especially low for the lockout, but there was more support than opposition to many of the other provisions. The data revealed a high level of compliance with the Codes by licensees. In Chapters 5 and 6 the research literature is reviewed and similar provisions in other jurisdictions in Australia and overseas are examined. Drawing on the analysis, stakeholder submissions and responses to the community survey, the Report concludes with a number of recommendations on how the Code might be amended to improve its operation in the future. The overall conclusion is that both Codes should continue to operate (with some amendments if the recommendations are accepted) for at least another 12 months at which time a further review should be commissioned. It can be confidently expected that trends in the data will become clearer and more reliable after two years of operation allowing firmer conclusions to be drawn.
Demarcating provincial and local powers regarding liquor retail
2004
Local government's newly acquired status as a fully-fledged sphere of government with constitutionally protected powers is slowly gaining momentum. Now that the dust is slowly settling around the demarcation and establishment of local government institutions, the demarcation of local government powers vis-a-vis other spheres of government is fast becoming a critical area of academic research and intergovernmental dialogue. As they become aware of their constitutional scope, municipalities will start asserting their institutional integrity with powerful metropolitan municipalities taking the lead. In an earlier article in this journal, the approach to local government powers as set out in the Constitution was outlined. This article takes the matter further and presents a case study on the demarcation of local government powers in one specific area, namely the regulation of the liquor retail industry.
National and local: policy lessons from the history of alcohol
The importance of long histories. Many problems and policy responses in the present have their roots in the 19 th and 20 th centuries. Deep social, economic and cultural changes affect the amount of alcohol consumed and how it is consumed -policy is at best one part of this.
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.