Page:Minister of Home Affairs v Fourie.djvu/79

 Rh of invalidity it might make so as to allow Parliament an opportunity to remedy the defect.

Has the public had an opportunity to have its say?

For the purposes of the present discussion I assume that the extent to which the public has been consulted would be a relevant factor in determining the appropriate remedy to be ordered. Even making that assumption, the contention by the state and the amici to the effect that the matter is not ripe for determination by this Court, cannot be sustained. The stark claim that the public has not had an opportunity to engage with the issue is not borne out by the facts. A recent memorandum by the SALRC on Domestic Partnerships testifies to prolonged and intensive engagement by the SALRC with the public. The memorandum states that developments since Home Affairs had led to a patchwork of laws that did not express a coherent set of family law rules. In order to address this problem, the SALRC states that it has approached the reform process in what it considered to be a holistic, systematic, structured and consultative way. The investigation was aimed at harmonising the applicable family law principles with the provisions of the Bill of Rights and, specifically, with the constitutional value of equality. In order to achieve this, a new family law dispensation for domestic partnerships was being designed to supplement the traditional marriage structure.

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