NAMIBIA’S SUPREME COURT AT 30 YEARS

The book is a project of the Office of the Judiciary in the Republic of Namibia, in collaboration with the School of Law of the University of Namibia. This book project is meant to celebrate the Supreme Court of Namibia’s 30th anniversary. It aims at describing the Namibian Supreme Court’s structure and powers, and it focuses on the Court’s work in deciding leading cases of constitutional law, civil rights, criminal law, delict, administrative law, labour law, and commercial law, amongst other areas of law. The book therefore, seeks not to merely critique the judgements of the Supreme Court of Namibia but to objectively examine how the Supreme Court has informed the development of Namibia’s judiciary system and the country’s developmental aspirations since independence. In principle, the book interrogates how the Court and its justices have shaped life and law in Namibia. In this regard, the book seeks to highlight how the Supreme Court of Namibia has shaped legal rules in pursuit of the country’s developmental aspirations. For this reason, the book seeks to address questions such as amongst others, the following: 1) has the Namibian Supreme Court interpreted the law in Namibia in pursuit of the country’s developmental goals?; 2) To what extent has the Namibian Supreme Court contributed to legislative development in Namibia?; 3) Are Supreme Court judges sensitive to Namibia’s traditional practices and developmental aspirations?; 4) Is the Supreme Court working together with other arms of government to unyoke Namibia from the post-independence effects of apartheid?; 5) Is the transformation of the Namibian judiciary and the general society a key feature of the Namibian Supreme Court’s rulings?