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Full-Text Articles in Law

The Universal Declaration And South African Constitutional Law: A Response To Justice Arthur Chaskalson, Peter E. Quint Jan 2009

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

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Who's Afraid Of Polygamy? Exploring The Boundaries Of Family, Equality And Custom In South Africa, Penelope Andrews Jan 2009

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 …


Untold Stories: Gender-Related Persecution And Asylum In South Africa, Lindsay M. Harris Jan 2009

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 …


Untold Stories: Gender-Related Persecution And Asylum In South Africa, Lindsay M. Harris Jan 2009

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 Jan 2009

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 …


Pitfalls In Patenting Publicly Funded Research - Comments On Draft South African Regulations, Matthew Herder, Cynthia M. Ho Jan 2009

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 …