The intersection of Civil Disobedience and the Rule of Law

Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject Law - Public Law / Constitutional Law / Basic Rights, grade: 80, University of South Africa, language: English, abstract: The principal objective of this paper is to critically analyse how the post-1994 South African government has reacted to civil disobedience, when it is the very tool that has played a large role in bringing them to power. The new rainbow nation has had unarmed confrontation with the State in areas of racial harmonisation, socio-economic issues and unreasonable governmental policies. While acknowledging that civil disobedience is at cross purpose with the law, the paper establishes that civil disobedience and the rule of law should be balanced in a healthy democracy. The citizenry should be made aware of its rights and obligations imposed by the constitution. On the other hand, the State’s response to civil disobedience should be one enveloped in legal authority. Thus civil disobedience in any democracy should not be met with a knee jerk reaction. The paper also scrutinizes the divergent views on law and morality. Divergent as they are, the common denominator is that no society can do without intoleration, indignation and disgust which in the end may lead to civil disobedience. This study will define the concept civil disobedience and rule of law. The link between civil disobedience and the rule of law shall be explained through theories of legal positivism and natural law in particular the Hart-Devlin debate and the Hart-Fuller debate.