News

Profs Nico Steytler and Jaap de Visser wrote comparative chapters for the recently published book by the International Development Law Organisation (IDLO), in collaboration with the Kenyan Judiciary Training Institute (JTI) and the Katiba Institute. The book unpacks the role of the Kenyan judiciary in implementing devolution.

Around 1000 prisoners were pardoned by the President during his State of the Nation address in December 2015. While these pardons offer temporary relief for the overburdened penitentiary system, implementation of more comprehensive measures, which form part of ongoing legal reform, will be necessary to effect real change.

Dr Aquinaldo Mandlate from the Children’s Rights Project of the Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law and Governance (DOI) was last week in Mozambique to share the draft Model Law on Eradication of Child Marriages and Protection of Children in Marriage (draft Model Law). Mandlate shared the content of the draft Model Law in a national follow-up workshop on child marriage laws that was held in the Mozambique capital city of Maputo. The workshop was attended by a fairly large audience including members of Parliament, representatives of the Department of Justice, as well as delegates from the Department of Gender, Children and Social Action.

The work at the Dullah Omar Institute is done by researchers of national and international repute. Over the past few months, four of our researchers received academic accolades that bear testimony to the quality research conducted at the Institute. Dr Derek Powell was promoted by UWC to Associate Professor on the basis of his sterling record as a researcher championing interdisciplinary research. Prof Ebenezer Durojaye, Head of the Socio-Economic Rights Project was awarded a C2 rating by the National Research Foundation after a rigorous assessment. The C rating means that Prof Durojaye is an “established researchers with a sustained recent record of productivity in the field … recognised … as having produceda body of quality work”.

The Multilevel Government Initiative (MLGI) of the Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law, Governance and Human Rights, University of the Western Cape is delighted to announce the publication of the Capable Cities Index: Performance. The Performance Index (PI) is the last of the three indices that collectively comprise the Capable Cities Index (CCI). The other two components, the Compliance (Coml) and Capacity (CI) Indices, were published earlier this year.

The Dullah Omar Institute is pleased to announce that a researcher with its Multilevel Government Initiative, Dr Tinashe Chigwata’s article titled "Decentralization in Africa and the Resilience of Traditional Authorities: Evaluating Zimbabwe's Track Record" has been published by the Journal 'Regional and Federal Studies'.

The Multilevel Government Initiative of the Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law, Governance and Human Rights, University of the Western Cape is pleased to announce the publication of the Capable Cities Index: Compliance. The Compliance Index (ComI) is one of three indices that together comprise the Capable Cities Index (CCI).

On 22 October 2015 the DOI and CoE Food Security hosted a roundtable on exploring the link between developmental local government and food security. The objectives of the roundtable were to increase collective analysis and understanding of the extent to which municipalities are fulfilling their obligation towards the right to food and what the roles are for local government in this regard. Approximately 20 participants from academic institutions, state departments, civil society and the private sector attended.