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OxHRH

Coup, Constitution and the Court: Zimbabwean Constitutional Court whitewashes flawed rigged elections

Jason Brickhill - 24th August 2018

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

Today, the Constitutional Court dismissed a legal challenge to Zimbabwe’s presidential elections. In my previous post, I reported on the conduct of the elections and the ensuing military crackdown. Information in the public domain indicated that the results were not credible – in particular, the increase in turnout after close of voting, reaching extraordinary levels […]

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OxHRH

Landmark judgment on PSPO Regime has Significant Repercussions for Freedom of Expression

Patrick Burfitt - 20th August 2018

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

On 2 July 2018, the High Court handed down judgment in Dulgheriu v London Boroughof Ealing [2018] EWHC 1667 (Admin). The case provides crucial insight into the ever lowering threshold at which freedom of expression can be curtailed in the United Kingdom. The judgment rejected a challenge to an Ealing Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) which […]

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OxHRH

Coup, Constitution and the Count: Zimbabwe’s Disputed Elections

Jason Brickhill - 7th August 2018

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

In November 2017, Robert Mugabe’s 38-year rule ended. At the time, I called this what it was – a coup – though popular among many Zimbabweans who thronged the streets alongside the tanks. In an attempt to legitimise the coup, parliamentary impeachment proceedings began. As the vote approached – with tanks in the streets and […]

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OxHRH

Is the restitution of land in the ‘public interest’?

Lee-Anne Germanos - 1st August 2018

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

In the wake of public hearings taking place around South Africa concerning the Parliamentary motion to review and amend the compensation provisions for the lawful expropriation of land contained in section 25 of the 1996 Constitution, the legal barriers to removing such a requirement seem to have been simplified to a mere amendment of wording. […]

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OxHRH

Internet Shutdowns: The Irony of a Digital Nation?

Mihika Poddar and Shardha Rajam - 5th July 2018

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building| Socio-Economic Rights and Labour Rights

Between January to May (2018) alone, the Indian government imposed 55 internet shutdowns. An internet shutdown disrupts all electronic communications and services within a geographical location. Often, neither the reason for, nor the duration of these shutdowns is made transparent. In a digital age, these shutdowns interfere with much more than just free speech because they hinder […]

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OxHRH

The EU Withdrawal Bill in the Commons: Parliament surrendering control?

Sionaidh Douglas Scott - 18th June 2018

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

Last week, the EU Withdrawal Bill returned to the Commons, so MPs could scrutinise and vote on amendments made to it by the House of Lords. The Bill survived its passage in the House of Commons last year relatively intact, with only one amendment carried against the Government. Things were different, however, in the Lords, […]

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OxHRH

The Human Rights Implications of Xi Jingping’s Limitless Presidential Term

Stephanie Tai - 28th March 2018

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

China’s National People’s Congress recently passed a constitutional change to remove the two-term presidential term limit with a 99.8% passing rate. Whilst the official reason for the removal is to ensure that Xi can keep his trinity leadership, as Xi’s tenure as military chairman and secretary general of the Communist Party is unlimited, this announcement […]

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OxHRH

Developments from the 48th Ordinary Session of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Ndjodi Ndeunyema - 23rd March 2018

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

In the last week of February 2018, Africa’s principal human and peoples’ rights judicial organ, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, commenced its 48th session at its seat in Arusha, Tanzania. Having started its operations in 2008 when its interim rules were finalised, the African Court is a relatively young institution when compared […]

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OxHRH

Fascination with Kenya’s Presidency has Overlooked the Real Changes Happening Locally  

Dominic Burbidge and Thomas Raji - 22nd March 2018

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

Kenya’s 2010 constitution replaced the country’s centralised governance structure with one of the world’s most radical experiments in devolution. Yet to look at current commentary of Kenya’s political crisis is to see a debate that has remained stuck in the past. The 2010 constitution devolved 14 key government functions to the county level, with each […]

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OxHRH

The bogey of judicial overreach in South Africa: A note on Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker of the National Assembly

Mfundo Salukazana - 14th March 2018

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building

Discussions over the contours of the separation of powers principle in South Africa continue to smoulder. During President Jacob Zuma’s term, this dialogue was in overdrive mode. Recently, in Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker of the National Assembly, and a few months before President Zuma resigned as president of South Africa, three opposition political parties […]

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OxHRH

Women’s Suffrage in Germany

Maja Beisenherz - 12th March 2018

Constitutions Institutions and Nation Building| Equality and Non-Discrimination

Given the political and constitutional history of the 18th and 19th centuries, universal suffrage and free and fair elections are a hard won freedom in Germany. Currently, Article 38 of the Basic Law of 1949 (Grundgesetz) states that ‘Members of the German Bundestag shall be elected in general, direct, free, equal and secret elections. They shall […]

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