The Institute’s work covers four major human rights areas, namely children’s rights, socio-economic rights, multilevel government and criminal justice.
The Children’s Rights Project (CRP), headed by Prof Benyam Dawit Mezmur, undertakes research, advocacy, and technical support activities related to the formulation and implementation of law and policy in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children’s Charter).
Africa Criminal Justice Reform (ACJR) is headed by Associate Prof Lukas Muntingh, and the project engages in high-quality research and advocacy on criminal justice reform and human rights in Africa. The work supports targeted evidence-based advocacy and policy development promoting good governance and human rights in criminal justice systems. ACJR promotes policy, law and practice reform based on evidence.
Prof Jaap de Visser is the Acting SARChI Chair in Multilevel Government, Law and Development. The Chair focuses on advancing development in South Africa and Africa through multi-level governance (MLG) embedded in the rule of law. It works closely together with the Multilevel Government, Law and Development (MLG), headed by Associate Prof Tinashe Carlton Chigwata.
The Socio-Economic Rights Project (SERP), headed by Prof Ebenezer Durojaye, promotes the realisation of socio-economic rights in South Africa and the African region. It conducts engaged, multi-disciplinary research, human rights education and actively campaigns around key social justice issues.
Related news
CLIA researcher wins prestigious grant
Mr Gerald J.T. Mandisodza, a doctoral candidate in the Centre for Legal Integration in Africa (CLIA) in the Faculty of Law at UWC, has won the 2023-2024 Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship Award.
CLIA director speaks at Leiden University
The director of the Centre for Legal Integration in Africa, Prof. Anthony Diala gave an invited presentation at the Leiden Law School, The Netherlands on 7 June 2023. The presentation is titled “The concept of living customary law revisited.”
CLIA member speaks on protection of indigenous cultural property
Dr DesmonDr Oriakhogba, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Private Law, and member of the Centre for Legal Integration in Africa gave an invited presentation on “The legal regime for the protection of indigenous cultural property in South Africa” on 17 April 2023 in the Equity for Indigenous Research and Innovation (ENRICH) Webinar Series under the theme “3D Replicas and Data Ownership”.
Are Africans ready for integrated state and indigenous laws?
In 1956, Doris Stenton published The English Woman in History. According to her, the Norman Conquest of 1066 ended the egalitarian social status of Anglo-Saxon women and ‘introduced into England a military society’ that made women ‘essentially unimportant’ (p. 348).
Shifting international environmental law from conservation to compassion
Werner Scholtz, professor of law at UWC, has called for a paradigm shift in international environmental law, which he says ‘is concerned with the conservation, inter alia, of sentient species, but generally ignores the welfare of individual animals.
UWC proudly launches African Centre for Transnational Criminal Justice (ACTCJ)
One of the University of the Western Cape’s newest research centres, the African Centre for Transnational Criminal Justice (ACTCJ), celebrated its launch on Wednesday 17 February 2021, with an introductory event led by Prof John-Mark Iyi, Acting Director of ACTCJ.
CLIA wins NRF Human and Social Dynamics In Development Grant
The Centre for Legal Integration in Africa has received a National Research Foundation of South Africa Human and Social Dynamics in Development grant (HSD210501598549) of R1,173,600.
Reflections on transitional justice in Africa during Covid-19
The Covid-19 pandemic has exerted enormous human and socio-economic costs on countries around the world. Countries responded to the pandemic with a range of crisis and disaster management measures varying in their degree of severity.
Environmental governance, hollow environmentalism and adjudication in South Africa
My thought experiment in this paper leads me to the conclusion that South Africa’s environmental governance performance often experiences what l term ‘hollow environmentalism’: the inevitable overall long-term outcome resulting from the practice of promulgating seemingly symbolic laws and policies whose objectives are often not fulfilled.
The ICC’s Arrest Warrant issued against President Vladimir Putin: Disentangling South Africa’s Domestic and International Legal Obligations
Come August 2023, for the second time in a decade, South Africa will likely be facing the difficult question of whether or not to arrest a visiting foreign head of state.
Intrinsic Interests and Integrative Dignity: Towards Wildlife Rights in International Law?
The discussions on animal rights strongly focus on the plight of domestic animals and tend to have a laissez-faire approach to wild animals.
The Historical Evolution of International Criminal Justice
Date: 31 March2023
Time: 12h00-14:00SAST
Venue: UWC Kader Asmal Moot Court
African Customary Law and Legal Pluralism: Within, and Beyond National Legal Systems
Webinar
The environmental rights gap in the South African Constitutional Court’s jurisprudence
Webinar
The Prosecutor Dominic Ongwen case before the International Criminal Court: A TWAIL-er’s perspective
Seminar Presentation
Regime Collision, Normative Hierarchies and the Legal Limits of African Union Intervention in Transitional Justice Societies: Burundi in context
Seminar Presentation
Inaugural Symposium of the Centre for Legal Integration in Africa on ‘The Future of Legal Orders in Africa’
The Centre for Integration in Africa within the Department of Private Law at the University of the Western Cape will be hosting an online inaugural symposium titled: The Future of Legal Orders in Africa – Inaugural symposium of the Centre for Legal Integration in Africa, Department of Private Law, University of the Western Cape.
Africa, International Criminal Justice and Accountability for Colonial Crimes
The African Centre for Transnational Criminal Justice (ACTCJ) will be hosting a webinar title ‘Africa, International Criminal Justice and Accountability for Colonial Crimes’.