The SA Human Rights Commissions directives, aimed at securing appropriate redress where human rights have been violated, are not legally binding but are rather recommendations, the Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday.
The ruling by the court is a landmark judgment on the scope of the commissions legal powers.
Last year, the SAHRC asked the top court to overturn a Supreme Court of Appeal SCA order from 2024 that ruled the institutions directives were not legally binding. The SCA ruled that the commission could only provide recommendations in its findings and had to approach courts to legally enforce its suggestions in cases where it found human rights violations.
