South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the Carbon Tax Act, 2019, which comes into effect on 1 June 2019. With the passing of the carbon tax into law, a price on carbon emissions is now a reality for the South African economy.The impact of the legislation, along with complementary measures such as the national greenhouse gas emission reporting regulations, will have a transformative effect on the South African economy ...
In a judgment delivered on 31 May 2019, a bench of three Designated Judges of the Supreme Court constituted under section 42 of the Mauritian International Arbitration Act, 2008 (the “IAA”), set aside an arbitral award delivered under the Arbitration Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre ...
On 20 May 2019, Rwanda was admitted as a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) Development Centre, becoming the first East African country to join the Development Centre. Founded in 1961, the OECD Development Centre is an independent platform that enables developed economies to interact, share knowledge and have policy dialogues with developing economies ...
We recently reported on a ruling of the new advertising authority in South Africa, the Advertising Regulatory Board (“ARB”). The dealt with the issue of misleading advertising. In this article, we’ll look at three more rulings that make it clear that the ARB deals with a range of important issues ...
South Africa recently held its general national election and the result was a win for the incumbent African National Congress (ANC) party. The election was fought against a backdrop of massive unemployment and a stagnant economy. During the course of the election, there was considerable focus on the issue of property rights and particularly, the possible expropriation of immovable property, especially farms ...
An article that appeared in the South AfricanDaily Mavericknews site, “Plain packaging for cigarettes is a bad idea”,suggests that the plain packaging debate is not yet over. A recap We’ve discussed plain packaging for cigarettes on a number of occasions. We’ve looked at how Australia has been at the forefront of this issue, with 2011 legislation requiring all brands of cigarettes to be sold in identical green packs featuring graphic images ...
A recent decision of the Mauritian Industrial Property Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) will provide some comfort to international brand owners. The case involved an application by a foreign company to cancel a trade mark registration obtained by a local party. The facts inStrategic Foods International Company LLC v Meher Banon Gokhoolwere all too familiar ...
On 31 May 2019, South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry gazetted certain amendments to the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (“B-BBEE”) Codes of Good Practice. These amendments will become effective on 31 November 2019. The following are the key amendments to take note of ...
The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (“AfCFTA”)entered into force on 30 May 2019 following the approval by the minimum required 22 countries. The AfCFTA will be the world’s largest free trade zone formed after the World Trade Organization, covering a market of 1.2-billion people ...
ETHIOPIA: Bills amending customs and VAT proclamations endorsed by Council of Ministers On 26 May 2019, the Council of Ministers endorsed a new bill amending Customs Proclamation No. 859/2014, expected to address practical problems and create a conducive business environment. The Council of Ministers also endorsed a bill amending a number of provisions of Value Added Tax Proclamation No. 285/2002 on 18 May 2019 ...
Just a few months ago, South African advocates, attorneys and candidate attorneys alike were celebrating therulingof an arbitrator attached to the Dispute Resolution Centre (“DRC”) of the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council in the matter betweenCoetzee v Autohaus Centurion. In this matter, the applicant employee had applied to be legally represented at an arbitration ...
Section 38(2)(a) of the Mauritian Employment Rights Act provides that: “(2) No employer shall terminate a worker’s agreement – (a) for reasons related to the worker’s misconduct, unless – (i)he cannot in good faith take any other course of action…” (our emphasis added) In its judgment in the case ofUnited Docks Limited v De Spéville [2019] UKPC 28(delivered on 10 June 2019), the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council had to c
With South Africa’s recent cabinet reshuffle, the Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation was amalgamated with the Department of Human Settlements. This indicates the growing intersection between natural resources and people/communities, and in turn, the potential for policy to stop seeing natural resources and people in separate silos ...
Use: it’s without question one of the biggest issues in trade mark law. It’s an issue that can come up in a number of scenarios. At least a genuine intention is needed to use a trade mark to get it registered. Considerable use may help get a trade mark registered in the face of various objections. Once registered, the trade mark needs to be used to make sure that the registration can’t be cancelled for non-use by a competitor ...
The Little Master himself, Sachin Tendulkar, is heading to court in Australia against sporting goods manufacturer Spartan. For some context: Tendulkar retired from international cricket shortly after winning the 2011 World Cup. Even in retirement, Tendulkar remains by some distance, the most revered cricketer to ever play the game and the famous Matthew Hayden quote “I have seen God. He bats at no ...
Back in 2013, we wrote an article about the Madrid Protocol, the treaty that regulates the international trade mark registration system. We expressed the view that it was high time that South Africa joined this ever-growing club of nations. We expressed the hope that it would happen soon. It’s now mid- 2019 and... well we’re still waiting. We’re told that accession to the Madrid Protocol is imminent. The Madrid Protocol has been in the news of late ...
The Porsche 911 is undoubtedly an iconic car. Instant product recognition is, of course, something that most companies strive for. But fame and familiarity can create their own problems when it comes to issues of intellectual property. Porsche recently suffered a setback when the EU General Court upheld a decision of the European Union Intellectual Property Office to cancel certain design registrations relating to the appearance of the Porsche 911 ...
A story that was widely reported on in the United Kingdom (“UK”) gives us an interesting insight into the world of copyright. A long time ago – some 22 years to be precise – a songwriter by the name of Richard Ashcroft assigned (transferred) the copyright in a hugely successful song calledBitter Sweet Symphonyperformed by a band called The Verve. If no bells are ringing, I suggest that you Google the song, chances are you will recognise it immediately ...
When the tide of democracy and constitutionalism swept through labour legislation in South Africa from the early ‘90s onwards, domestic workers, for the first time, gained access to important labour rights. However, they remained excluded from two important statutes, the Unemployment Insurance Act, 2001 (the “UI Act”) and the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, 1993 (“COIDA”) ...
Electricity was first generated in Nigeria in 1866 when two generating sets were installed to serve the Colony of Lagos. In 1951, the government of Nigeria, through an Act of Parliament, established the Electricity Commission of Nigeria (ECN) to regulate and operate the power supply systems in Nigeria. Subsequently, the Niger Dam Authority (NDA) was established for the development of the Kanji Hydroelectric Dam ...
In May 2019, the South African Proposed Regulations Pertaining to the Financial Provision for the Rehabilitation and Remediation of Environmental Damage caused by Reconnaissance, Prospecting, Exploration, Mining or Production Operations, 2019 (the “2019 Regulations”) were released for public comment ...
Section 187(1)(c) of the South African Labour Relations Act, 1995 (“LRA”) has always been controversial because of the interplay between the definition of automatically unfair dismissals, employers’ rights to terminate contracts of employment on the basis of operational requirements and the institution of collective bargaining ...
Dismissals for misconduct are required to be for a fair reason and in accordance with a fair procedure. A fair procedure entails that disciplinary action be taken within a reasonable period of time. In the recent decision inStokwe v Member of the Executive Council: Department of Education, the South African Constitutional Court highlighted this procedural requirement that disciplinary action must be taken within a reasonable period of time ...
The enactment of the General Data Privacy Regulations (GDPR) in the EU last year and the imminent proclamation of the effective date of South Africa’s own data privacy legislation, the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPI”), has been the cause of disquiet for many organisations’ directors and compliance officers ...
