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Highlights from the Office of the Chief State Law Adviser (International Law)

For the third year running, the Office of the Chief State Law Adviser (International Law) ('the Office') has the privilege to share with the readers of SAYIL some highlights of the past year. As in previous years, 2008 has been a busy and exciting year for the Office.
In 2008 the Office has worked on a number of wide ranging issues from environmental issues to criminal matters. While many issues did not attract much media attention, others featured prominently. In the course of our work we continued to walk the tightrope of providing policy relevant legal advice which is, at the same time, theoretically sound.
As in previous years, this contribution adopts as its framework, the strategic priorities of the South African government and, in particular, the International Relations, Peace and Security Cluster. These are the consolidation of the African Agenda, South-South Cooperation, Global System of Governance, Political and Economic Relations, and North-South Cooperation. Furthermore, while the work covered is much broader than in previous contributions, it is limited to issues that can be considered highlights from the perspective of international law and international law-making.