In this opinion piece, DOI's Lukas Muntingh argues that life imprisonment in South Africa is a blunt instrument, based on little fact, and which has had no proven impact on violent crime rates. Furthermore, it is now imposed for offences that would not have attracted the death penalty, except in the rarest of circumstances.
CSPRI researcher, Kristen Petersen, presented findings of research which sets out the arguments and evidence for the decriminalisation and declassification of petty offences.
CSPRI researcher, Kristen Petersen, presented findings of research which sets out the arguments and evidence for the decriminalisation and declassification of petty offences.
Yesterday, the Dullah Omar Institute (DOI) hosted seminar for a group of public administration students from the University of Kehl in Germany. The topic discussed at this seminar was - Constitutionalisation of local government in the Southern African Region: Status, relevance and challenges.
On 18 April 2017, the Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative will be renamed into the Africa Criminal Justice Initiative (ACJI)
The Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative (CSPRI) was established in 2003 to address the research and advocacy gaps around imprisonment and human rights in South Africa. Since the late 2000s the project expanded its scope geographically as well as thematically. ‘Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative’ no longer reflects its work and the name is to be changed to ‘Africa Criminal Justice Reform’ and will be referred to as Organisation pour la Réforme de la Justice Pénale en Afrique (in French) and Organização para a Reforma da Justiça Criminal em África (in Portuguese).
Prof Nico Steytler, South African research chair for multilevel government, Law and Policy at the Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law made his presentation titled: ‘the federal character of federal government: the missing component of shared rules,; at the Center for Federal Studies of the Addis Ababa University.
The Dullah Omar Institute joins civil society organisations concerned about the state of our democracy in condemning the deployment of 441 members of the SANDF to maintain law and order during this week’s State of the Nation Address.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), one of Pakistan’s four provinces, is implementing a new local government system. DOI is convening a study tour for a group of provincial and local officials.
On 7 February 2017, two days before the official opening of Parliament in 2017, Parliament Watch, a collective of nine independent civil society organisations working towards the advancement of social justice, the realisation of human rights, and strong constitutional democracy in South Africa will be hosting discussions on the state of South Africa’s legislatures and the effectiveness of parliament and parliamentary committees in their functioning as a tool for oversight, openness and accountability.
On 3 February, Jaap de Visser presented a lunch seminar at the Development Action Group (DAG) on how to use the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA) for advocacy around urban housing challenges. The seminar was attended by housing rights activists based in Cape Town.
On 07 February 2017, in the days ahead of the opening of Parliament, Parliament Watch will be hosting an event, which aims to increase public scrutiny on legislatures through reflecting on their performance in 2016 and considering the prospects for stronger legislatures in 2017.
