Welcome to the Department of Public Law

2012 marks the centenary anniversary of Africa’s oldest liberation movement, the ANC, and on April 27th South Africa celebrates its 18th Freedom Day.

The ANCL has of course changed since liberation - it would be tragic if the ANC in government still functioned as if it were the opposition to oppression. Yes it still defines itself as “South Africa’s national liberation movement”. Can a political party be a liberation movement? And should it be?

Even the Constitutional Court doesn't always get race quite right, Professor Pierre de Vos suggested in his inaugural lecture, The Past is Unpredictable: Race, redress and remembrance in the South African Constitution, delivered at UCT on 14 September.

Philip Stenning, Professor at the Griffith University in Australia visited Cape Town recently and held two seminars for students at the Centre of Criminology. Philip is a distinguished academic, writer, and researcher, who is currently a Professor at the Griffith University in Australia, specialising in the areas of police and policing, and private security.

Three new flooding reports, produced by the UCT Centre of Criminology, have been recently released. The reports were compiled by Laura Drivdal, a PhD student at the Centre interested in the adaption to the risk of flooding in Cape Town. The first of the reports concerns water in Cape Town, the second is concerned with climate change and flooding relations, whilst the third concerns water management.

Rashida Manjoo, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women met with the UN Secretary-General in March 2011 to discuss the work of her mandate. She was in New York to present her annual report to the Commission on the Status of Women.

A team of five UCT law students has won the 2011 White & Case South Africa Jessup Competition, part of the Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, held at the University of Johannesburg on 29 January. The team of Muhammad Ebrahim, Douglas Ainslee, Unesu Moyo (who also bagged the Best Oralist Prize), Shalom Ndiku and Soseipriala Amabeoku is eligible to represent South Africa at the White & Case International Rounds in Washington, DC, from 20 to 26 March.

In conclusion of her 10 day visit to Algeria, which took her to Algiers, Constantine, Oran and Ouargla, Ms. Rashida Manjoo, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council on violence against women, its causes and consequences, delivered the following statement:

Even a cursory study of its contents suggests that the chorus of scepticism and opposition that has greeted the Protection of Information Bill 6 of 2010 is well founded. So hinted Professor Hugh Corder of UCT's Department of Public Law when speaking at a lunchtime meeting of the Black Law Students' Forum on 5 August.

2009 Seminar Series

Security and the Constitution

The Democratic Governance and Rights Unit is presenting a series of open seminars covering various aspects of security, the constitution and who it really protects. Each of the seminars is being recorded so you that can listen to them.

Professor Christina Murray spent the last week of July travelling through the Rift Valley in Kenya engaged in public consultations on Kenya's constitution. She is currently serving as a member of a Committee of Experts appointed by the Kenyan Parliament to draft a new constitution. Professor Murray was sworn in by the Chief Justice of Kenya as a member of the Committee on 23 March 2009. The appointment of this Committee is a renewed attempt by Kenya to revise its Constitution.

The Democratic Governance and Rights Unit has recently completed research that examines judgments of potential nominees of the Constitutional Court. Read the final research report.

Dr Surya Monro and Victoria Hasson have closely observed the opening of Parliament on 6 February, 2009. Their interest in the most colourful event on South Africa's parliamentary calendar springs from their involvement in a UK based research project about gendered ceremony and rituals in the parliaments of India, South Africa and the UK. Observing the ceremony and rituals in the South African Parliament is the main aim of their research visit with the Department of Public Law. Read more...

The Faculty of Law was recently awarded the United Nations Environmental Programme's (UNEP's) MESA Award for 2008. The Award was received on the Faculty’s behalf by Alexander Paterson, a senior lecturer from the Institute of Marine and Environmental Law, at the inaugural MESA International Conference held in Nairobi in late November. Read more...

From 4 to 8 November, Danwood Chirwa and Lia Nijzink of UCT's Public Law Department visited the University of Dar Es Salaam as part of an ongoing DelPHE funded partnership. The visit served to strengthen ties with both the Law Faculty and the Politics Department at the University of Dar Es Salaam, thus enhancing the multidisciplinary character of planned research collaboration. The UCT delegation attended a workshop on Constitutional Law in Tanzania, presented a number of additional seminars and prepared for further partnership activities. Read more...

From 6 to 10 October, UCT's Public Law Department offered an intensive week of training for staff members of the Nigerian National Assembly in Abuja, Nigeria. The programme, convened and facilitated by Lia Nijzink and Meryl Du Plessis, was filled with lectures, interactive working sessions and lively discussions. Read more...