This paper specifically seeks to examine the role that South Africa’s courts might
play, and how civil society might use the courts, in ensuring that the country’s foreign policy complies with human rights standards. It does so by reflecting on several different examples. It should be noted that the objective of this paper is to describe and analyse those different examples and not to construct a definitive legal theory for judicial review of South Africa’s foreign policy. However, as this paper will demonstrate, while South African courts have issued judgements that have discernible foreign policy implications, it would be erroneous – even
damaging – to imply that they are unappreciative of the limits of judicial intervention.
