Extending the Shadow of the Law: Using Hybrid Mechanisms to Establish Constitutional Norms in Socioeconomic Rights Cases

This Article challenges the general perception that ADR processes cannot develop public law norms. It follows a recent trend in ADR literature that seeks to define a public norm creation role for ADR in part by connecting these processes to other alternative legal and political problem-solving methods. This Article focuses on a recent South African Constitutional Court case, Occupiers of 51 Olivia Road v City of Johannesburg, in which the court interpreted the right to housing in the South African Constitution. The court held that municipalities must develop processes for negotiating - or, in the court's language "engaging" - with citizens affected by redevelopment plans, to analyze how claims about the norm-creation potential of ADR processes could be developed in the context of constitutional adjudication of socioeconomic rights.