Law Commons^™

Untold Stories In South Africa: Creative Consequences Of The Rights-Clearing Culture For Documentary Filmmakers, Peter Jaszi, Sean Flynn

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

This report summarizes research on the perceptions of South African documentary filmmakers about copyright clearance requirements and the effect of such requirements on their work. This work was performed in the context of a larger project exploring how lessons learned from “best practices” projects with documentary filmmakers in the U.S. can help their counterparts in other countries identify and overcome barriers to effective filmmaking posed by escalating
copyright clearance requirements.

Land Reform As Social Justice: The Case Of South Africa, Karol C. Boudreaux

Karol C. Boudreaux

In his book Law, Legislation and Liberty, F.A. Hayek takes the concept of social justice to task, but argues that when governments (or other organizations) violate people’s rights by imposing discriminatory laws intervention may be necessary to correct the situation. How might such guidance shape real-world policy? As a result of a very long history of discriminatory legislation, black South Africans suffered substantial harms at the hands of past governments. Following the political transition in 1994, the new government implemented land reforms policies designed, in part, to satisfy calls for social justice. This article examines these policies and suggests that …

Untold Stories: Gender-Related Persecution And Asylum In South Africa, Lindsay M. Harris

Journal Articles

South Africa receives more asylum seekers than any other country in the world.1 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres proclaimed, “If you look at the policy and legal statutes of South Africa, refugees enjoy one of the most advanced and progressive systems of protection in the world today.”2 Increasing numbers of women seek South Africa’s protection. In 2006, 20.2% of asylum seekers were women; a significant increase from previous years.3 Given South Africa’s prominence in the region, its handling of female asylees and gender-related persecution claims influences the adjudication of these claims regionally and even worldwide.4

The Developing Equality Jurisprudence In South Africa, Karthy Govender

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

Apartheid was technically about separateness, but it was fundamentally about inequality. The founding premise of the ideology was to preserve the total hegemony of white South Africans. The liberation organizations opposing the apartheid regime sought to affirm that the country belonged to all those that lived in it. Thus, it is unsurprising that the commitment to equality is one of the founding values of the Constitution and an indelible thread woven throughout the fabric of the Bill of Rights. After some misstatements about certain rights being more important than others, courts have interpreted rights in the Bill of Rights to …

The Universal Declaration And South African Constitutional Law: A Response To Justice Arthur Chaskalson, Peter E. Quint

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Kwazulu-Natal Department Of Health Policy And Guidelines For Integrated Ante And Postnatal Care At District Hospital Community Health Centre And Clinic Level, Population Council

Reproductive Health

A 2006 baseline survey conducted by CARE Kenya indicated that sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is widespread throughout Kenya’s North Eastern Province. Other findings revealed that high levels of stigma and gender imbalances are associated with sexual violence and female genital mutilation (FGM) and that a coordinated approach to responding to the service needs of survivors is missing. As noted in this report, there is limited awareness of the legal mechanisms available to survivors. The Population Council’s study in Wajir District ascertained the need for and possible components of an integrated and comprehensive services model that could meet the needs …

Kimberly Lanegran On Justice And Reconciliation In Post-Apartheid South Africa Edited By François Du Bois And Antje Du Bois-Pedain. Cambridge, Uk: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 311pp., Kimberly Lanegran

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Justice and Reconciliation in Post-Apartheid South Africa edited by François Du Bois and Antje Du Bois-Pedain. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 311pp.

Rethinking The Legal Reform Agenda: Will Raising The Standards For Bar Admission Promote Or Undermine Democracy, Human Rights, And Rule Of Law?, Samuel J. Levine, Russell G. Pearce

Scholarly Works

This Article offers a critique of, and alternative to, the American Bar Association's efforts, supported by the United States government, to promote the requirement of a college education in law as prerequisite for becoming a lawyer in developing countries. Using the examples of China, which currently has a far more open system for becoming a legal services provider, and South Africa, which already has a system consistent with the goals of the ABA, the Article argues that more stringent education requirements actually undermine democracy, human rights, and rule of law. In China, where the most significant advocates for human rights …

Pitfalls In Patenting Publicly Funded Research - Comments On Draft South African Regulations, Matthew Herder, Cynthia M. Ho

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

South Africa recently enacted legislation similar to the US. Bayh-Dole Act, which permits publicly funded institutions to obtain patent rights in hopes that the patent incentive will foster commercialization, as well as generate revenues to the funded institutions and scientists. While enacting analogs to Bayh-Dole seems presently in vogue, there are definitely concerned about the original legislation that have been voiced. When South Africa recently published proposed guidelines implementing its version of Bayh-Dole, it broadly opened up the opportunity for public comments. The attached paper discusses some of concerns, including problems with delaying timely knowledge dissemination and the need to …

Marking The Path Of The Law, Stephen Ellmann

Articles & Chapters

This article, published in South Africa's Constitutional Court Review, focuses on the Constitutional Court of South Africa in order to discuss the nature of constitutional judging more generally. Looking to Brown v. Board of Education as an example, it argues that technical skill – though obviously important – is not the highest virtue of the constitutional judge, and that a central attribute of constitutional judging is commitment to the values of the constitution. But commitment to values is more than a matter of rational assent. As everyday experience and neurological evidence teach us, commitment naturally and unavoidably involves the judge’s …

Who's Afraid Of Polygamy? Exploring The Boundaries Of Family, Equality And Custom In South Africa, Penelope Andrews

Articles & Chapters

South Africa's post-apartheid constitution has been widely admired and constantly referenced by international scholars, and especially international human rights scholars, for its comprehensive embrace of gender equality. But the commitment to gender equality has been tested by other liberatory discourses, including African nationalism and cultural and religious autonomy. This Article examines the evolution of South African legislation and constitutional jurisprudence in the face of competing imperatives, for example, between equality, legal pluralism, customary law/religious law, and the recognition of polygamy. In particular, it focuses on the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, a statute that purports to regulate customary marriages, including …

Implementing The Social And Economic Promise Of The Constitution: The Role Of South African Legal Education, Susan R. Jones, Peggy Maisel

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The South African Constitution recognizes socio-economic rights as a necessary foundation for the enjoyment of civil and political rights. The South African Constitution, one of the most progressive in the world, contains many important protections such as the rights to equality, housing, and education. The Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Law (BEE) was designated to address the economic inequities of apartheid. South Africa’s commitment to economic justice is also evidenced by the fact that it is a signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The challenge is translating these rights into opportunities for social and economic …

Untold Stories: Gender-Related Persecution And Asylum In South Africa, Lindsay M. Harris

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

This Article explains the particular difficulties that female asylum seekers and survivors of gender-related persecution face, reaffirming the need for the practical and sensitive application of international and domestic gender guidelines. Extensive research into client files and interviews with key decision makers prove that, despite scholarship suggesting that women may be advantaged in asylum proceedings, a focus on gender is still needed in the South African context. While there are undoubtedly problematic elements of the 1998 Refugees Act warranting its revision, the addition of gender as an additional category under the refugee definition, as proposed by the recent Refugees Amendment …