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).
News
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.
The drought is forcing cities to consider new ways of regulating water use. This is critical because rapid urbanisation and increasing water scarcity will continue to put pressure on the availability of water.
In 2016, the Dullah Omar Institute, together with Stephen Berrisford, made a submission to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Scholars and practitioners from all over the Horn of Africa, South Africa and Europe came together in Addis Ababa on 2 December to discuss the role of federalism and decentralisation in the Horn of Africa.
On 3 and 5 December, nine doctoral students from the Centre for Federal Studies (Addis Ababa University) presented parts of their dissertations at a doctoral colloquium. Each student presented a chapter, received feedback and engaged in debate with peers.
The Dullah Omar Institute’s Applied Constitutional Studies Laboratory (ACSL) is pleased to announce the publication of the Civic Protests Barometer (CPB).