A Human Rights Act for Australia: a transfer of power to the High Court, or a more democratic form of judicial decision-making?
Australia is the only Western country without some form of a national Bill of Rights. In 2008, the National Human Rights Consultation Committee, established by the federal government, recommended that...
The South African Constitutional Court: Is There a Threat From Popularism?
The overwhelming body of opinion seems to be that the South African Constitutional Court (CC) has done quite well in its first 17 years. From the first slew of ‘easy’...
Public Interest Law in South Africa
By Justice Dhaya Pillay I am troubled by the inequality in our society despite our grand Constitution. My concern is that the impact of apartheid plagues black and poor people...
The Role of Civil Society in the Execution of ECtHR Judgments
By Victoria Prais European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgments can have a huge impact in Member States by highlighting systemic and serious problems in human rights protection. But what...
Marriage Equality in New Zealand – Part II: Public Interest Litigation
By Max Harris Editor’s Note: Last week, Max Harris examined the religious exemptions of New Zealand’s recently passed Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013. Today, he takes a closer...
Engendering the Judiciary – a South African Perspective
Recent statistics and debates in South Africa highlight that the country’s transformative vision has not stretched as far as the judiciary and legal sector. Since this is the very sector...
Unprecedented Step Taken in South Africa to Address Gender Transformation in the Judiciary
On the 12th of October 2012, the South African Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) was served with an unprecedented complaint regarding the lack of Gender Transformation in the Judiciary. The...
US Supreme Court grants certiorari in Windsor v United States – what comes next?
Following on from his previous post considering the recent US Second Circuit Court of Appeal decision to widen the category of ‘suspect class’ to include the protection of same-sex rights,...
‘He Believed in People’: Remembering Arthur Chaskalson
by Geoff Budlender Arthur Chaskalson, former Chief Justice of South Africa and a champion of human rights, passed away at the weekend. Geoff Budlender delivered the eulogy at his funeral...
When is a UK Bill of Rights not a UK Bill of Rights?
The recently published Human Rights and the UK Constitution* by Colm O’Cinneide is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what’s at stake in the current UK Bill of...
Election of the new Belgian Judge to the ECtHR: An all-male short list demonstrates questionable commitment to gender equality
On the 24thApril 2012, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) elected the new Belgian judge to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), Paul Lemmens, from...
