Strange bedfellows? The action for adultery and the South African Bill of Rights
by Amanda Barratt
International Journal of Private Law (IJPL), Vol. 7, No. 4, 2014

Abstract: The action for adultery does not sit comfortably with the Bill of Rights in the South African Constitution, 1996. Historically, the adultery action was designed to protect the husband's honour in the context of the European honour code. In a recent court judgement, Wiese v Moolman, the court attempted to update the remedy to conform to constitutional requirements, arguing that adultery is an infringement of inherent human dignity. This paper traces the history of the adultery remedy and its links to reflexive honour. It then examines whether the evolved action meets the requirements of the Constitution by focusing on the rights to privacy, freedom of intimate association, and human dignity as a personal autonomy right.

Online publication date: Fri, 31-Oct-2014

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Private Law (IJPL):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com