The Community Law Centre has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Centre for Federal Studies (CFS) at Addis Ababa University. In terms of that MOU, staff of the Community Law Centre regularly teaches at the CFS, particularly in its PhD programme.
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The director of the Community Law Centre, Prof Jaap de Visser lectured a group of honours and LLM students on the place of local government in the South African system of multilevel government at the Ethiopian Civil Service College in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia yesterday (7 November 2013).
The Community Law Centre hosted a seminar that looked at challenges faced by institutions in South Africa in ensuring that growth leads to better living standards.
The Director of the Community Law Centre, Prof Jaap de Visser, presented a statement at the Opening Ceremony of the 22nd Session of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC).
On 21 October 2013, during the 54th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights holding in Banjul, The Gambia, the Community Law Centre at the University of the Western Cape and the Office of the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights organised a side event on Penalisation of Poverty as a Human Rights Challenge in Africa.
The former director of the Community Law Centre, Prof Nico Steytler was appointed by President Jacob Zuma as member of the Financial and Fiscal Commission with effect from 01 September 2013, for a period of five years, as a part time commissioner. Prof Steytler is currently the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Chair.
A doctoral researcher at the Multi-level Initiative of the Community Law Centre, Thulaganyo Selokela, presented a paper on “Gender Representation in Local Government’. She presented this at a conference organised by the Institute for law in Action based at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University together with the Institute on Municipal Administration For Southern Africa.
21 October 2013 - This past weekend, the Community Law Centre in partnership with the University of Western Cape Law Faculty hosted the sixth doctoral colloquium at the Atlantic Beach Hotel in Cape Town.
Today the NCOP Select Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development in parliament met to consider the negotiating mandates from the provinces on the Traditional Courts Bill. It was a short meeting, it seems that the actual work took place behind closed doors prior to the meeting session.
This is the second issue of the ESR Review in 2013, which recognises and applauds the important role that the youth and women play in our country.
The Community Law Centre’s Socio-Economic Rights project released its “Compendium of documents and cases on the right to health under the African Human Rights System (September 2013)”.
Today the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development met to deliberate on the proposed law that will see courts being set up to deal exclusively with sexual offences matters like rape and child sexual abuse. Members of the Shukumisa campaign were sceptical about its potential to make a difference in rape prosecutions.
Constitutional adjudication in Ethiopia is primarily the responsibility of the House of Federation, Ethiopia’s upper house. In line with this, the Community Law Centre’s Multi-Level Government Initiative (MLGI) and the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Chair in Multilevel Government, Law and Policy hosted a discussion on "Constitutional adjudication in Ethiopia" on the Tuesday 2 September.
Without strong civil society across sectors and interrogation of broader socio-economic policies, the promise of our constitution will remain outside of the grasp of most people.
On 29 August 2013 the Community Law Centre (CLC), based at the University of the Western Cape, and the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) officially launched a research report entitled ‘Jumping the Queue’, Waiting Lists and other Myths: Perceptions and Practice around Housing Demand and Allocation in South Africa.
“It is not a secret that much of our Bill of Rights was drafted at the Community Law Centre,” this were the words by Minister Trevor Manuel, Minister in the Presidency-National Planning Commission, when delivering his speech at the University of the Western Cape Yesterday afternoon.
An exciting panel of high profile speakers is expected to spark a conversation on the process of constitution making and implementation, during an International Conference on Constitution-Building in Africa on 6 September 2013.
Community Law Centre's Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative presented two papers which seek to understand gross human rights violations by prison warders on inmates in prisons and how different sub-sets in the South African population experiences law enforcement.
The project seeks to evaluate and identify lessons that both Kenya and South Africa can share in the implementation of the devolved system of government, and especially from South Africa which has 17 years of experience with implementing devolution.
Call for expression of interest to draft the Concept Note for the celebration of the 2014 Day of the African Child on the theme, ‘A child-friendly quality free and compulsory education for all children in Africa’.
It is with great sadness that the Community Law Centre heard of the news of former Chief Justice Pius Langa's passing. The former Chief Justice, a close friend of the late Adv. Dullah Omar who founded the Community Law Centre, was a pioneer of constitutionalism and one of the leading architects of our current constitutional dispensation.
The director of the Community Law Centre, Professor Jaap de Visser, taught a week-long course on Local Government and Decentralisation for the PhD students at the Center for Federal Studies at Addis Ababa University.
On 12 July 2013, Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative’s Clare Ballard from the Community Law Centre delivered a presentation at the Public Interest Law Gathering (PILG) about judicial oversight in relation to the various forms of detention and the importance of the ratification of the Optional Protocol of the Convention against Torture.
Senior researcher at the Community Law Centre, Jean Redpath on national radio, debating whether the National Prosecuting Authority is fulfilling its mandate.
After South Africa adopted the 1996 Constitution with a new role for local government, a comprehensive policy process was conducted to shape the new system in line with the Constitution. This resulted in a Green Paper in 1997 and a White Paper in 1998. These documents were critical in the legislative programme that followed.
‘Jumping the Queue’, Waiting Lists and other Myths: Perceptions and Practice around Housing Demand and Allocation in South Africa report has been released.
Around 35 participants from government, community organisations, social movements, and academia took part to share their experiences and practices around meaningful engagement.
This year marks the third anniversary of the implementation of the Child Justice Act of South Africa and the Child Justice Alliance continues to keep a sharp focus the impact of the Act on the administration of justice to children in South Africa.
This issue of the ESR Review for 2013 focuses on the eight Millennium Development Goals.
Zimbabwe has adopted a Constitution and is getting ready for presidential, parliamentary and local elections scheduled for the 31st of July.