| http://dbpedia.org/ontology/abstract
|
Minister of Police v Rabie is an important … Minister of Police v Rabie is an important case in the South African law of delict. It was heard in the Appellate Division on September 3, 1984, with judgment handed down on September 27, 1985. The presiding officers were , , , and . The appellant was represented by the State Attorney, Johannesburg. The respondent's attorneys were , Johannesburg, and , Bloemfontein. The central issue was the extent of the liability of the Minister of Police for wrongful acts committed by a policeman. In an appeal by the Minister of Police against an award of damages by the court a quo, it was contended that the sergeant's conduct had been unrelated to his police work. The Appellate Division dismissed the appeal, referring to the proposition that a master (in this instance, the State) who does his work by the hand of a servant (in this instance, the sergeant) creates a risk of harm to others if the servant should prove to be negligent or inefficient or untrustworthy. The sergeant's conduct, on the facts, had fallen within the purview of the risk created by State in employing him, and it was evident to the court that the sergeant's employment was conducive to the wrongs he committed. The State, therefore, was found to be vicariously liable for those wrongs. The case is cited most often for the following passage: It seems clear that an act done by a servant solely for his own interests and purposes, although occasioned by his employment, may fall outside the course or scope of his employment, and that in deciding whether an act by the servant does so fall, some reference is to be made to the servant's intention. The test is in this regard subjective. On the other hand, if there is nevertheless a sufficiently close link between the servant's acts for his own interests and purposes and the business of his master, the master may yet be liable. This is an objective test. This test, although frequently applied, "has not always been followed." In , for example, the Supreme Court of Appeal formulated the test somewhat differently, saying that the question to be asked is whether the deviation is of such a degree that it can still be said the employee is exercising the functions to which he was appointed or carrying out some instruction of the employer. When K v Minister of Safety and Security went before the Constitution Court, O'Regan complained that "variations of the [Rabie] test have proliferated, and have resulted in uncertainty," and sought to remove this uncertainty by applying the test and holding its objective element, approached with the spirit, purport and objects of the Constitution in mind, to be sufficiently flexible to incorporate constitutional as well as other norms. It required the court applying it to articulate its reasoning for its conclusions as to whether there was a sufficient connection between the wrongful conduct and the employment. Thus developed, O'Regan J held, the application of the test was not at odds with the constitutional order.not at odds with the constitutional order.
|
| rdfs:comment |
Minister of Police v Rabie is an important … Minister of Police v Rabie is an important case in the South African law of delict. It was heard in the Appellate Division on September 3, 1984, with judgment handed down on September 27, 1985. The presiding officers were , , , and . The appellant was represented by the State Attorney, Johannesburg. The respondent's attorneys were , Johannesburg, and , Bloemfontein. The case is cited most often for the following passage:ited most often for the following passage:
|
