Die gebruik van Afrikaans vir die notulering van hofverrigtinge gemeet aan demokratiese standaarde

Abstract

Hitherto both Afrikaans and English have been serving as languages for the recording of court proceedings in South African courts.Governmental spokespersons as well as the Minister of Justice, however, hinted at the possibility of opting for a monolingual English dispensation. This article analyses the cases for and against a monolingual system. Instead of judging these arguments in terms of individual sections of the Constitution, a different course is followed. Since the Constitution itself purports to be imbedded in democratic values, such values are exceptionally relevant as a  yardstick also for policy regarding language(s) of record in South African courts. The content of democratic values is examined and the arguments pertaining to the matter in question are measured against these values. It is concluded that a monolingual English system for the recording of court proceedings would be incongruent with these democratic values.