Page:Minister of Home Affairs v Fourie.djvu/24



Rh and appropriate orders to be made, are crystallised out for focused research and attention. There is no doubt, therefore, that a judgment by the High Court on the application made to it by the Equality Project would be of great assistance.

At the same time it has to be borne in mind that the hearing in the High Court would only take place next year. The broad question of the right of same-sex couples to marry is already before us in the Fourie matter. It was first considered in the High Court and then in a comprehensive judgment of the SCA. Although the challenge to section 30(1) of the Marriage Act as such was not before the SCA, the SCA devoted considerable attention to interpreting its terms and evaluating its significance in relation to the common law. Furthermore, there has been no suggestion that evidence of significance to the outcome would or could have been led in the High Court in the Equality Project matter. The issues are matters of law which fall to be determined in a social context that has already frequently been dealt with by this Court.

In Bhe this Court was confronted with a not dissimilar situation. When considering separate applications for orders of constitutional invalidity made by the Cape High Court and the Pretoria High Court respectively, it was asked also to consider an application by the South African Human Rights Commission and the

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