The right to freedom of expression of the media and the right to confidentiality in the asylum-seeking context – a balancing of opposing rights

• Main Author: Vadachalam, Alison
• Other Authors: Powell, Cathleen
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: Faculty of Law 2020
• Subjects: Public Law
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31317

This minor dissertation analyses the competing rights of free expression of the media and confidentiality of asylum seekers in the context of asylum applications and appeals. This research is grounded in the landmark judgment of the Constitutional Court in the Mail and Guardian Media Limited and Others v Chipu N.O. and Others [2013] ZACC 32. The judgment considered the intersection of the competing rights in light of the constitutional challenge to the former section 21 of the Refugees Act, No 130 of 1998. This section provided for the strict confidentiality of asylum applications and prevented any member of the public or the media from attending asylum application proceedings or viewing the application. The offending provision was challenged by on the basis that it unjustifiably limited the right to freedom of expression and in the result, the Constitutional Court declared section 21(5) of the Refugees Act invalid. The amended section now allows for the Refugee Appeals Authority to exercise a discretion to allow access to, and/or reporting on, its hearings subject to its consideration of certain factors. Having regard to the revised section and the dearth of domestic case law and academic opinion on this issue, this research aims to formulate an understanding of the importance of free expression in the context of asylum proceedings in order to guide the Refugee Appeals Authority in exercising its new discretion. This research will address the issues through three lenses. First, the jurisprudential lens will examine the underpinnings of each right and their relative importance. Next, the judgments lens will examine how each right was dealt with by the High Court and the Constitutional Court. Finally, the comparative lens will examine how the rights have been dealt with in foreign law in the asylum systems of New Zealand and Canada.