Apartheid and its impact on the legal system of the republic of South Africa

Introduction. The article examines the impact of the apartheid regime on the legal system of the Republic of South Africa. Apartheid was not merely a political regime but a comprehensive system of legal regulation based on racial discrimination. The relevance of the study is determined by the need for theoretical and legal understanding of how political practice can transform the legal structure of a state, undermining the universalism of legal values.

Materials and methods. The methodological basis of the study consists of general scientific and special legal methods: historical-legal, comparativelegal, formal-legal, systemic-structural analysis. The empirical basis includes legislative acts of South Africa during the apartheid period (1948–1994), the constitutions of 1961 and 1983, case law of the Appellate Division and decisions related to the restriction of detainees' rights, as well as doctrinal sources from South African, British, and American researchers.

Results of the study. It is established that apartheid institutionalized legal differentiation through three main mechanisms: land laws (reservation of territories exclusively for the white population), labor laws (the “job reservation” system, which secured skilled jobs for whites), laws on movement and social segregation (the pass system, separate education, prohibition of mixed marriages). The constitutions of 1961 and 1983 enshrined the racial principle of state construction. The judiciary, formally independent, actually served as an instrument for implementing discriminatory norms, refusing to apply natural law principles and limiting constitutional review. The creation of bantustans (pseudo-states for the African population) demonstrated an attempt to legally justify racial segregation through the concept of “separate development.”

Discussion and conclusion. The South African legal system during the apartheid period represents an example of the transformation of law from a universal regulator into an instrument for consolidating the domination of one group over another. The apartheid regime intensified the internal conflict of South Africa's mixed legal system by superimposing a discriminatory regime on the Romano-Dutch and English legal heritage. Economic contradictions, international isolation, and internal resistance led to the collapse of apartheid and the transition to a democratic model enshrined in the 1996 Constitution. South Africa's experience demonstrates that the legal system is not a neutral instrument and can be used to institutionalize inequality.

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