The award of compensation for non-material damages in human rights cases

Abstract

Up to only a few years ago, a demand for the award of compensation for non-pecuniary damages suffered by an individual or a group through the violation of human rights, was frowned upon by our Courts.The view prevailed in legal circles that the Civil Code disregards non-material damages and therefore the concept did not exist in our law; thus, the Courts applied the relevant provisions of our law in a rigid and severe manner. However, in the past years we have witnessed a significant shift from the rigid postion in which our Courts had resolutely entrenched themselves in the field of non-material damages. In a number of judgements delivered by our Courts, in their Constitutional capacity, several persons have been awarded adequate compensation for non-material damages suffered by virtue of the violation of, their basic rights and freedoms.