South African Constitutional Court Affirms Doctrine of Common Purpose in Rape Cases
In criminal law, the doctrine of common purpose establishes that where two or more people agree to a commit a crime, each will be responsible for the acts of the...
South Africa
Comparative Human Rights Law Book Launch: Sandy Fredman in Conversation with Edwin Cameron
This is a special episode of RightsUp, which takes Sandy Fredman’s new book, Comparative Human Rights Law, as a starting point for global conversation around the role of law, lawyers,...
Using Human Rights Law to Address the Sanitation Crisis in Makhanda
As the current Oxford Human Rights Hub/Rhodes University Travelling Fellow, I’ll be blogging about my experiences at the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) and the Rhodes University Law Faculty for the...
Domestic Workers in South Africa Lead the Way in Advancing Social Protection for Precarious Workers
In a recent South African High Court judgement, the court held the failure to cover domestic workers under Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA) to be unconstitutional. This...
Brand “spanking” new law – South African Constitutional Court Outlaws Corporal Punishment of Children
On the 18th of September 2019, Chief Justice Mogoeng handed down a unanimous judgment declaring the common law defence of moderate and reasonable chastisement constitutionally invalid. Freedom of Religion SA...
Protecting the Right to a Basic Education for Undocumented Learners: An Update from the Legal Resources Centre
(As the current Oxford Human Rights Hub/Rhodes University Travelling Fellow, I’ll be blogging about my experiences at the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) and the Rhodes University Law Faculty for the...
Bringing Back the Death Penalty in South Africa for Crimes Against Women
September is the start of spring in South Africa, marked by warmer weather and blossoming trees. However, this September was marred by brutal xenophobic attacks and lootings, child abductions and...
Blurred Lines: When Free Speech Becomes Hate Speech
On the 27th of August 2019, the South African Constitutional Court (Court) heard its first substantive hate speech case in relation to statements made by Bongani Masuku, as Head of...
Historic South African Silicosis Class Action Settlement Approved
On 26 July 2019, the High Court approved a settlement between 20 goldmining companies operating in South Africa (including African Rainbow Minerals, Anglo American, AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Harmony Gold)...
Innovative remedies under a flexible Constitution: A view from South Africa
As an undergraduate, the focal point of interest in a case was what happened in court. The judgment, and specifically the ratio; the facts, maybe the arguments from time to...
South African Supreme Court of Appeal Confirms Remedy of ‘Constitutional Remedy’ for Homeless People Whose Property is Destroyed by State
On 3 April 2019, the South African Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) handed down judgment in the matter of Ngomane & others v City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality & Another...
Let’s call ‘conscientious objection’ by its name: Obstruction of access to care and abortion in South Africa
South Africa has one of the most liberal laws on abortion and constitutionally recognizes reproductive rights as human rights. However, data shows important difficulties translating the legal norms into effective...
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