HRML330-1 Applied Research for Law Practitioners Summative Assessment 2 | BCC

HRML330-1 Assignment Brief

Instructions

Summative Assessment 2 (SA2) must be submitted online no later than 23h59 on 06 June 2025.

The essay must be a minimum of seven hundred (700) words and should not exceed eight hundred and fifty (850) words.

The essay structure must be as follows:

Cover Page:

• Name
• Surname
• Student
• Name of your Support Centre (i.e. Boston, Braamfontein)

Introduction: Tells the reader what the essay is about.

Body/ Main Content: Is based on research and relates to the essay question or topic that has been set.

Conclusion: A summary of what has been covered in the essay, it may also include suggestions/recommendations.

Reference list: (not included in the word count): The Harvard Referencing Method must be adhered to with regards to in-text citations and the reference list. Please make sure you read and adhere to Boston's Harvard Method of Referencing: A Beginner's Guide when referencing, which is available under the modules tab on ColCampus for HRML330-1, as well as The Beginner's Guide to Plagiarism, which is available in the HE Law Library module on ColCampus 4. 

4. The Essay Must be Typed, Using the Following Format Settings Only:

• Font: Arial
• Font Size: 12
• Line Spacing: 1.55

5. For this Assessment, the Following Must be Adhered to:

You have been provided with three academic sources (see below). These sources are compulsory and must be consulted and referenced when answering the research question.

The compulsory sources must be accessed using the HE Library module on ColCampus unless otherwise stated e.g., through a hyperlink.

Compulsory sources:

Botha, C. 2022. Statutory Interpretation: An Interpretation for Students. 6th edition. Juta.

Sv Makwanyane 1995 (3) SA 391 (CC).

The following paragraphs of this case will assist you in completing this assignment:

Paras 10-11; 26-28;88-90;129-144; and 200-222.

6. Academic Sources and Accessing Credible e-Resources:

Not all sources/ texts can be classified as academic sources. Wikipedia, for example, is not a credible academic source since authors are not identifiable, and editing an article on this site is very easy. Also, blog posts often provide valuable information, but are not academically sound. To judge whether a source is credible, consider the following criteria:

• The author should be identifiable through author information, affiliations, and/or qualifications.
• An academic source has usually been peer-reviewed.
• Academic textbooks or academic journals should be published by a recognised authority/publisher like a university, an academic publishing house, a research organisation, etc.
• A list of references should be present, that is, full citations for sources used. Thorough reference to research is a crucial characteristic of legitimate academic work.

7. You must make use of the Harvard Method of Referencing. Refer to the examples of referencing below:

Book, single author:

• Holt, D.H. 2017. Management principles and practices. Sydney: Prentice-Hall.

Book, 2 or 3 authors:

• McCarthey, E.J., William, D.P. & Pascale, G.Q. 2017. Basic marketing. Cape Town: Juta.

Book, more than 3 authors:

• Bond, W.R., Smith, J.T., Brown, K.L. & George, M. 2016. Management of small firms. Sydney: McGraw-Hill.

Book,no author:

• Anon.2009.A History of Greece.Athens:Cengage.

eBook:

• Case, J., Marshall, D. & McKenna, S. 2018. Going to university: The influence of higher education on the lives of young South Africans [E-book]. Cape Town: African Minds. 

Academic journal article with one author:

• Waghid, Y. 2019. On the polemic of academic integrity in higher education. South African Journal of Higher Education, 33(1):1-5.

Academic journal with 2 or more authors:

• Waghid, Y. & Davids, N. 2019. On the polemic of academic integrity in higher education. South African Journal of Higher Education, 33(1):1-5.

Newspaper article from a webpage:

• Motshwane, G. 2019. A missed opportunity: Shakes slams Bafana's Afcon plans. SowetanLive, 7 June.

Web-based images (figures, graphs, maps, artwork):

• from Boston City Campus & Business College. 2019. Welcome [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.boston.co.za/ [Accessed 3 June 2019].

Music or recording:

• Makeba, M. 1960. The Click Song[Recording]. YouTube.  [Accessed 8 June 2019].

8. Boston expects you to approach your work with honesty and integrity. Honesty is the basis of respectable academic work. Whether you are working on a formative assessment, a project, a paper (read at a conference), an article (published by a journal), or a summative assessment essay, you should never engage in plagiarism, unauthorised collaboration (collusion), cheating, or academic dishonesty.

9. Plagiarism occurs when a writer duplicates another writer's language or ideas and then calls the work their own. Simply put, plagiarism is academic fraud. This includes the 'copy and paste' of work from textbooks, study guides, journal articles, etc. The Plagiarism Declaration, included in this assessment brief, must be signed and attached to the front of your essay. Refer to the Plagiarism Information Sheet in your Course Outline for further information.

10. A Copyleaks Report will be issued via ColCampus once the assignment is submitted. Please ensure that you follow the correct steps when uploading your assignment to ensure that the Copyleaks Report is correctly issued. If the incorrect document is uploaded, or if no Copyleaks Report is issued, or if the Copyleaks Report indicates that a 30% similarity/plagiarism score has been exceeded, a mark of zero (0) will be awarded.

 To obtain maximum results, please consult the rubric in this brief to ensure that you adhere to and meet all the criteria.

The following Learning Outcomes are assessed in this assessment:

• Identify key constitutional values (human dignity, open and democratic society) and implicitly requires engagement with others mentioned in the provided context (non-sexism, etc., as these are likely relevant to socio-economic rights).
• Consider the influence of cultural context and individual biases on interpretation.
• Assess the effectiveness of judicial interpretations in promoting social justice and equity by analysing the tension between judicial activism and restraint.

Question (20 Marks)

"Constitutional interpretation is a dynamic process, which can never be finished, since circumstances and perceptions and values will change. There can never be one final interpretation that is cast in stone. No understanding of the Constitution is holy writ, and there are many unanswered questions and unsolved problems that need to be addressed."

Source: Botha, C. 2022. Statutory Interpretation: An Interpretation for Students. 6th edition. Juta, 215.

Required:

Considering the dynamic nature and ongoing evolution of constitutional interpretation as described in this quote, analyse how the South African Constitutional Court ("Court") has balanced competing values in its interpretation of fundamental rights. Use the cases of S v Makwanyane and Another 1995 (3) SA 391 (CC) ("Makwanyane") and Minister of Home Affairs v Fourie 2006 (1) SA 524 (CC) ("Fourie") to illustrate how the Court has dealt with this challenge.

In your essay, you should, among other things, address the following:

• The role of the Constitutional Court in interpreting fundamental rights.
• The significance of key constitutional values such as human dignity, equality, and freedom, in the interpretation of rights.
• The importance of balancing competing constitutional values and how the Constitutional Court approaches this challenge.
• A brief analysis of Makwanyane and Fourie to illustrate how the Constitutional Court has balanced competing constitutional values.
• Conclude by reflecting on the Constitutional Court's role in shaping the interpretation of rights based on your discussion.