Our Blog

Constitutional Law Angelo Dube Constitutional Law Angelo Dube

Exploring the Intersection of State Sponsored Violence in Swaziland and the Possible Rise of the Islamic State

Over the past two years, the state of Swaziland has been plagued with various human rights violations, including state sponsored violence against the citizenry. In response, civilians have retaliated against members of the police force and the army. Against this background, Angelo Dube argues that the environment in Swaziland may be ripe for the Islamic State’s picking.

Read More
Constitutional Law Geoffrey Allsop and Ohene Yaw Ampofo-Anti Constitutional Law Geoffrey Allsop and Ohene Yaw Ampofo-Anti

Rafoneke v Minister of Justice: What about Intersectionality?

In Rafoneke v Minister of Justice and Correctional Services (Rafoneke), the SA Constitutional Court had to consider whether section 24 (2)(b) read with section 115 of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 (LPA) unfairly discriminated against foreign nationals on the basis of citizenship and social origin. Geoffrey Allsop and Ohene Yaw Ampofo-Anti argue that the court did not apply the principle of intersectionality correctly in its finding that these provisions are constitutional.

Read More

Reconsidering the Rights and Responsibilities of the Corporate Person

Corporations increasingly enjoy more rights but face fewer consequences for abusing rights. Erika George argues that a new approach is urgently needed and that constitutional courts should be more concerned with the concentrated power of the private sector and protecting the public space for effective policy making and adjudication.

Read More
International Law, Constitutional Law, Human Rights Johannes Masing International Law, Constitutional Law, Human Rights Johannes Masing

Constitutionalism in the Era of Private Power and the Fourth Industrial Revolution

In the course of digitalisation, economic and other activities are increasingly internationalising and their challenges can thus be less frequently addressed through state constitutions. Although there is no constitutional framework that would allow private power to be effectively constrained at the international level, Johannes Masing argues that a certain uniting basis of constitutionalism across borders may be found in human rights.

Read More
Human Rights, International Law Olivier De Schutter Human Rights, International Law Olivier De Schutter

Povertyism is a Major Obstacle to the Eradication of Poverty. It’s Time to Ban it.

United Nations Special Rapporteur, Olivier De Schutter calls for an end to ‘povertyism’ - the discrimination & negative attitudes that bar people in poverty from fully accessing their rights and for states to include socio-economic status as a suspect ground in national anti-discrimination frameworks.

Read More
Human Rights, Constitutional Law Joshua Davis Human Rights, Constitutional Law Joshua Davis

Bwanya v Master of the High Court: Right for the Wrong Reasons

Bwanya v Master of the High Court was the first occasion on which the Constitutional Court expressly refused to follow one of its previous decisions. Joshua Davis considers the basis on which it did so and the implications for the doctrine of precedent, and argues that the judgment was ultimately right for the wrong reasons.

Read More
International Law, Human Rights Alexander Alvarez International Law, Human Rights Alexander Alvarez

Population Displacement and Genocidal Violence in an Age of Climate Change

Climate change and the related crime of ecocide have increasingly been the focus of academic and public attention. As once stable weather patterns become more unpredictable and previously rare weather events become more common and more extreme, we are belatedly recognizing that the ecological destruction inflicted on the world around us poses a tremendous threat to not just the natural world, but to humanity as well.

Read More
International Law, Human Rights Cristiano d’Orsi International Law, Human Rights Cristiano d’Orsi

Several reflections on the displacement in the Sahel due to climate change

Environmental degradation has become a serious problem in the Sahel, which is disproportionately impacted by climate change, with temperatures rising 1.5 times faster than the global average, and the situation is further aggravated by political instability. It is, therefore, consequential that this entire situation has produced – and is producing – a massive displacement of populations within the region.

Read More
Public Law, International Law, Human Rights Tanveer Rashid Jeewa Public Law, International Law, Human Rights Tanveer Rashid Jeewa

Des objets aux sujets de propriété : Réflexion sur le décalage entre la reconnaissance juridique et sociale des droits des femmes à la propriété foncière en Afrique

Tanveer Rashid Jeewa affirme que ce traitement inhumain vient souvent du fait que les femmes n'ont pas de terre à leur nom et par conséquent, pas de sécurité d'occupation, de logement ou de sécurité économique.

Read More
Public Law, International Law, Human Rights Tanveer Rashid Jeewa Public Law, International Law, Human Rights Tanveer Rashid Jeewa

From objects to subjects of property: Reflecting on the gap between legal and social recognition of women’s rights to land ownership in Africa

Women in Africa are often excluded from inheriting, evicted from their lands and homes by in-laws, stripped of their possessions, and have no choice but to engage in risky and non-consensual sexual practices in order to keep their property. Tanveer Rashid Jeewa argues that this inhumane treatment often comes as a result of women having no land to their name and consequently, no security of tenure, shelter or economic security.

Read More
Public Law Camilla Hyslop Public Law Camilla Hyslop

“Last year’s words”: South Africa’s Response to Climate Change is Outdated

Despite being lauded for having one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, South Africa's  climate policies and legislation are arguably retrogressive. This is clear in their central concern for a brand of development that is premised on the historical development trajectories of the Global North. Camilla Hyslop argues that it is time to write an African response to climate change, which is progressive, decolonial and inherently inclusive.

Read More
International Law, Human Rights Abiy Ashenafi International Law, Human Rights Abiy Ashenafi

Reflections on some challenges to achieving durable solutions to violence-induced internal displacement in Ethiopia

In international refugee law, as well as IDP-specific soft law and practice, three forms of durable solutions, namely, local integration, return and relocation, have been recognised and implemented. These have been adopted in the African Union Convention on the Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention) – a regional binding treaty ratified by 33 African states, including Ethiopia. Yet, implementing the treaty and realising durable solutions for IDPs has been difficult. This piece identifies several challenges to achieving durable solutions to violence-induced displacement in Ethiopia and offers some recommendations.

Read More

Submissions

 We welcome unsolicited submissions covering current legal developments in constitutional law, fundamental rights law, public law, international law and related fields.