South Africa

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa was adopted by the Constitutional Assembly on October 11, 1996, certified by the Constitutional Court on December 4, 1996 and signed by President Nelson Mandela on December 10, 1996. Since adoption, the Constitution has been amended sixteen times, most recently in 2009.

Although no provisions specifically address intellectual property, the Constitution recognizes and protects the right to privacy (Article 14); property (Article 25); language and culture (Article 30); cultural, religious and linguistic communities (Article 31); and access to information (Article 32).