Law, Justice & Human Rights

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*NOTE: Some titles in these lists are not formally Open Access, but all are free (no fee for e-access)  

Advancing Equality

: How Constitutional Rights Can Make a Difference Worldwide

 

Publisher: University of California Press

Year of publication: 2020

In a world where basic human rights are under attack and discrimination is widespread, Advancing Equality reminds us of the critical role of constitutions in creating and protecting equal rights. Combining a comparative analysis of equal rights in the constitutions of all 193 United Nations member countries with inspiring stories of activism and powerful court cases from around the globe, the book traces the trends in constitution drafting over the past half century and examines how stronger protections against discrimination have transformed lives. Looking at equal rights across gender, race and ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity, disability, social class, and migration status, the authors uncover which groups are increasingly guaranteed equal rights in constitutions, whether or not these rights on paper have been translated into practice, and which nations lag behind. Serving as a comprehensive call to action for anyone who cares about their country’s future, Advancing Equality challenges us to remember how far we all still must go for equal rights for all.

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Constitutional Law for Students

 

Publisher: UCT Libraries

Year of publication: 2020

FREE DOWNLOAD (whole book or chapters):  Part 1: https://doi.org/10.15641/0-7992-2546-4 

                                                                                ►Part 2: https://doi.org/10.15641/0-7992-2549-5 

Constitutional Law for Students is a textbook [in two volumes] for students by students, to help navigate the complex world of Constitutional Law in South Africa. Constitutional Law is one of the most challenging courses in the LLB programme. This publication aims to clarify concepts and increase understanding around the various aspects of Constitutional Law. Each chapter has a workbook to help prepare students. 

These two volumes have been published open access to ensure that every law student and the public has access to it. 

Volume 1 was made as inclusive as possible, with the addition of an audiobook format.

Abbreviated table of Contents:

PART 1  [in a separate volume]:


PART 2  [in a separate volume]:

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Constitutional Law of South Africa (CLoSA)

 

Publisher: © Juta & Company (Pty) Ltd.

Year of publication: 2014 (2nd Edition, Revision service 6)

FREE DOWNLOADS (chapters):  https://constitutionallawofsouthafrica.co.za/  

CLoSA’s five volumes, and monograph length chapters, has established the work as the only treatise on South African constitutional law.

This 4-volume, 76-chapter work covers every dimension of court practice, institutional constitutional law and all of the procedural and substantive provisions of the Bill of Rights. Written by local and international constitutional law experts, Constitutional Law of South Africa takes the reader beyond the black-letter law by offering complete reconstructions of legal doctrine, alternative readings of constitutional provisions, and practical criticism of judgments and legislation. As a result, CLOSA is the most widely cited work on South African constitutional law.

    [Note: This resource is not Open access, but the chapters can be downloaded for free.]

Table of Contents:

Part I: Courts, Principles of Government & Structures of Government


Introduction to Constitutional Analysis:

1 A Baedeker to Constitutional Law of South Africa by Stu Woolman, Theunis Roux & Michael Bishop

2 Constitutional History by Stu Woolman & Jonathan Swanepoel

3 Constitutional Litigation by Matthew Chaskalson, Gilbert Marcus & Michael Bishop


Courts:

4 Jurisdiction by Sebastian Seedorf

5 Rules & Procedure in Constitutional Matters by Kate Hofmeyr

6 Costs by Michael Bishop

7 Standing, Ripeness & Mootness by Cheryl Loots

8 Amicus by Geoff Budlender

9 Remedies by Michael Bishop


Principles of Government:

10 Democracy by Theunis Roux

11 Rule of Law, Legality and the Supremacy of the Constitution by Frank Michelman

12 Separation of Powers by Sebastian Seedorf & Sanele Sibanda

13 Founding Provisions by James Fowkes

14 Co-operative Government & Intergovernmental Relations by Stu Woolman

15 Legislative Competence by Victoria Bronstein

16 Conflicts by Victoria Bronstein


Structures of Government:

17 National Legislative Authority by Michael Bishop & Ngwako Raboshakga

18 National Executive Authority Christina Murray & Richard Stacey

19 Provincial Legislative Authority by Tshepo Madlingozi & Stu Woolman

20 Provincial Executive Authority by Christina Murray & Okyerebea Ampofo-Anti

21 Provincial Constitutions by Stu Woolman

22 Local Government by Nico Steytler & Jaap de Visser

23A Public Administration by Anshal Bodasing

23B Security Services by Stu Woolman

23C War Powers by Stephen Ellmann

24A Public Protector by Michael Bishop & Stu Woolman

24B Auditor General by Stu Woolman & Yolandi Schutte

24C SA Human Rights Commission by Jonathan Klaaren

24D Commission for Gender Equality by Cathi Albertyn

24E Independent Communication Authority of South Africa by Justine White

24F Commission for the Promotion & the Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities by Stu Woolman & Julie Soweto-Aullo

25 Public Procurement by Glenn Penfold & Pippa Reyburn

26 Traditional Leadership by Tom Bennett & Christina Murray

27 Public Finances by Ross Kriel & Mona Monadjem

28 Transitional Provisions by Matthew Chaskalson

29 Elections by Glenda Fick

30 International Law & International Agreements by Hennie Strydom & Kevin Hopkins


Part II: The Bill of Rights


Operational Provisions:

31 Application by Stu Woolman

32 Interpretation by Lourens du Plessis

33 Interpretation of Socio-Economic Rights by Sandra Liebenberg

34 Limitations by Stu Woolman & Henk Botha


Substantive Provisions:

35 Equality by Cathi Albertyn & Beth Goldblatt

36 Dignity by Stu Woolman

37 Reproductive Rights by Michelle O'Sullivan

38 Privacy by David McQuoid-Mason

39 Life by Marius Pieterse

40 Freedom and Security of the Person by Michael Bishop & Stu Woolman

41 Freedom of Religion, Belief and Opinion by Paul Farlam

42 Freedom of Expression by Dario Milo, Glenn Penfold & Anthony Stein

43 Freedom of Assembly by Stu Woolman

44 Freedom of Association by Stu Woolman

45 Political Rights by Jason Brickhill & Ryan Babiuch

46 Property by Theunis Roux

47 Children's Rights by Adrian Friedman, Angelo Pantazis & Ann Skelton

48 Land by Juanita Pienaar & Jason Brickhill

49 Sentencing and Punishment by Dirk Van Zyl Smit

50 Environment by Morne van der Linde & Ernst Basson

51 Criminal Procedure: Rights of Detained, Arrested & Accused Persons by Frank Snyckers & Jolandi le Roux

52 Evidence by PJ Schwikkard

53 Labour Relations by Carole Cooper

54 Freedom of Trade, Occupation and Profession by Dennis Davis

55 Housing by Kirsty McLean

56A Health by David Bilchitz

56B Water by Malcolm Langford, Richard Stacey & Danwood Chirwa

56C Food by Danie Brand

56D Social Security by Mia Swart

57 Education by Stu Woolman & Michael Bishop

58 Community Rights: Language, Culture & Religion by Stu Woolman

59 Access to Courts by Jason Brickhill & Adrian Friedman

60 Citizenship by Jonathan Klaaren

61 States of Emergency by Nicole Fritz

62 Access to Information by Jonathan Klaaren & Glenn Penfold

63 Just Administrative Action by Jonathan Klaaren & Glenn Penfold

64 Slavery, Servitude and Forced Labour by Stu Woolman & Michael Bishop

65 Official Languages by Iain Currie

66 Movement and Residence by Jonathan Klaaren


Table of Cases

Index

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Doing the Rights Thing

: Approaches to Human Rights and Campaigning

 

Publisher: UTS ePRESS

Year of publication: 2008

This book is about the current state of human rights and the advocacy campaigns to end various abuses to these rights. It challenges views that give authority exclusively to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and reductionist views that take the subsequently framed body of international human rights law as sacrosanct suggesting this this is an incomplete and therefore insufficient view of human rights; that the struggle for human rights exists in historical, political and cultural contexts that may variously challenge or lend support to perspectives on human rights. The author presents three accounts to argue the case: a brief historical overview of human rights; a close reading of a key human rights organisation; and accounts from a recent human rights campaign in Australia. These examples suggest that smaller, nimbler campaign organisations, focused on concrete human rights outcomes, can strategically and successfully employ discourses that are designed to fit with the local political and cultural settings.

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Domains of freedom

: Justice, Citizenship and Social Change in South Africa

 

Publisher: UCT Press

Year of publication: 2016

Freedom ... Justice ... Citizenship ... What do they mean in South Africa today? In striving for them, have historical inequalities been recognised? Have political changes over the last 20 years translated into economic redistribution? Have the struggles for social change enhanced the project of decolonisation? 

Examining a wide range of social issues, from economic policy, land reform, gender politics and healthcare access to trade union mobilisation, heritage discourses, rights debates, citizen participation and migration policies, Domains of freedom shows that social change in South Africa should not be understood as either a catastrophic failure or an overwhelming success. This book makes it clear that South Africa’s recent history of freedom reflects the deep complexities and non-linear trajectories of building egalitarian societies more globally. Its authors are researchers who have all contributed significantly to understanding the meaning of freedom in their own subject areas. The result is a comprehensive overview which is useful for anyone keen to understand the complexities of freedom in South Africa today.

Table of Contents:

Foreword / Achille Mbembe. 

JUSTICE. 

Overview / Sharlene Mollett

Ch.1: Land, politics and policy change in South Africa: what questions for land redistribution policy and practice? / Thembele Kepe & Ruth Hall

Ch.2: Law and political conflict in South African land reform / Christiaan Beyers & Derick Fay

Ch.3: Cui bono? A political-economy assessments of 20 years of South African freedom / Antoinette Handley

Ch.4: South African housekeeping policy over two decades: 1994-2014 / Marie Huchzermeyer & Aly Karam. 

FREEDOM. 

Overview / Dickson Eyoh

Ch.5: Freedom Park and the Voortrekker Monument: commemorative practices between reconciliation and decolonisation / Melissa Levin

Ch.6: The paradox of trade union action in post-apartheid South Africa / Sakhela Buhlungu

Ch.7: The politics of women and gender in the ANC: reflecting back on 20 years / Zine Magubane

Ch.8: The role of rights and litigation in assuring more equitable access to healthcare in South Africa / Lisa Forman & Jerome Amir Singh. 

CITIZENSHIP. 

Overview / Jacqueline Solway

Ch.9: The politics of citizenship in South Africa / Bettina von Lieres

Ch.10: Fire in the vineyards: farm workers and agrarian change in post-apartheid South Africa / Christopher Webb

Ch.11: From Ubuntu to Grootboom: vernacularising human rights through restorative and distributive justice in post-apartheid South Africa / Bonny Ibhawoh

Ch.12: Social protests and the exercise of citizenship in South Africa / Anver Saloojee

Ch.13: Migration to South Africa since 1994: realities, policies and public attitudes / Belinda Dodson & Jonathan Crush. 

Index

Afterword / Gillian Hart

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Exploring the Link between Poverty and Human Rights in Africa

 

Publisher: Pretoria University Law Press (PULP)

Year of publication: 2020

FREE DOWNLOAD: 

This book addresses poverty, one of the important issues confronting Africa, from a multi-disciplinary approach. With contributions from eminent scholars from diverse backgrounds, the book explores poverty from a human rights perspective. Its central message is that poverty is not necessarily a failure on the part of an individual, but rather caused by the actions or inactions of governments, which are often exacerbated by structural inequalities in many African societies. This in turn requires a more pragmatic approach grounded in respect for human rights.

Exploring the link between poverty and human rights in Africa will be useful to researchers, policymakers, students, activists and others interested in addressing poverty.      

Abbreviated table of Contents:

PREFACE viii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS x

CONTRIBUTORS xi

1. General introduction to poverty and human rights in Africa

2. Integrating a human rights approach to food security in national plans and budgets: The South African National Development Plan

3. Is South Africa winning the war on poverty and inequality? What do the available statistics tell us?

4. Who really ‘state-captured’ South Africa? Revealing silences in poverty, inequality and structurally-corrupt capitalism

5. Poverty, women and the human right to water for growing food

6. The link between environmental pollution and poverty in Africa

7. Alleviating poverty through retirement reforms

8. Disability, poverty and human rights in Africa: Opportunities for poverty reduction from the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

9.The co-existence of gender inequality and poverty

10. The potential of the African human rights system in addressing poverty

11. Realising access to justice for the poor: Lessons from working with rural communities

12. The role of the South African Human Rights Commission in ensuring state accountability to address poverty

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Guide to the African human rights system

: Celebrating 40 years since the adoption of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights 1981 - 2021

 

Publisher: Pretoria University Law Press (PULP)

Year of publication: 2021

FREE DOWNLOAD:          

A Guide to the African human rights system has been conceived as an accessible and informative introduction to the human rights system established under the auspices of the African Union (AU). This Guide provides an overview of developments related to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, its supervisory body, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, as well as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and its supervisory body, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. It is launched on 2 November 2017, commemorating the date, 30 years earlier, on which the African Commission was inaugurated. The Guide aims to both chart the most salient historical developments and provide an accessible introduction to the African human rights system, and is continuously revised.

The Centre for Human Rights is both an academic department and a non-governmental organisation (NGO) accorded observer status with the African Commission. The Centre teaches academic programmes and engages in research, advocacy and training on human rights, with a specific focus on Africa. Its flagship programmes are the Master’s in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa and the African Human Rights Moot Court Competition. For more information on the Centre for Human Rights, visit www.chr.up.ac.za 

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Human Rights in Africa

: Legal Perspectives on their Protection and Promotion

 

Publisher: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

Year of publication: 2009

To protect the inviolability of human dignity worldwide is the ultimate objective of the concept of human rights. Human rights are considered and officially accepted as universal – regardless of their genesis or cultural manifestation. History and experience show, however, that respect for the dignity and rights of human beings cannot be taken for granted: they must be constantly nurtured and vigorously guarded. It is against this background that this publication evolved. Its contents stem from the conviction that, amongst several means, legal instruments and institutions can contribute to the advancement of human rights.

Human rights as a legal concept arrived in Africa relatively late.The United Nations System, international law and the African Union have certainly all contributed to the establishment of a human rights system in Africa, which has positively and indispensably impacted on the advancement of human rights and of justice. Yet some of the promises made about such rights being guaranteed under global, continental, regional and national legal instruments have remained unfulfilled.

Therefore, this publication on human rights on the continent tries to capture the current status, development and transformation of the African human rights protection system. It elaborates on the various legal instruments, institutions and mechanisms at its disposal. The 12 articles summarise the achievements gained and challenges faced when it comes to respecting human rights in Africa, including all aspects of the effectiveness of the protection system and its implementation.

The publication is also a tribute to the increasing significance of human rights as a policy issue in Africa, and as a primary component of global regulatory policy and global governance.

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Justice and Human Rights in the African Imagination

: We, Too, Are Humans

 

Publisher: Routledge

Year of publication: 2021

This book is an interdisciplinary reading of justice in literary texts and memoirs, films, and social anthropological texts in postcolonial Africa.  

Inspired by Nelson Mandela and South Africa’s robust achievements in human rights, this book argues that the notion of restorative justice is integral to the proper functioning of participatory democracy and belongs to the moral architecture of any decent society. Focusing on the efforts by African writers, scholars, artists, and activists to build flourishing communities, the author discusses various quests for justice such as environmental justice, social justice, intimate justice, and restorative justice. It discusses in particular ecological violence, human rights abuses such as witchcraft accusations, the plight of people affected by disability, homophobia, misogyny, and sex trafficking, and forgiveness.  

This book will be of interest to scholars of African literature and films, literature and human rights, and literature and the environment. 

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The Politics of Social Inclusion 

: From Knowledge to Action

 

Publisher: ibidem-Verlag / ibidem Press

Year of publication: 2020

This volume looks at concepts and processes of social exclusion and social inclusion. It traces a number of discourses, all of them routed in a relational power analysis, examining them in the context of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030 with its commitment to “leave no one behind." The book combines analysis that is fundamentally critical of the rhetoric of social inclusion in academic and UN discourse with narratives of social exclusion processes and social inclusion contestation, based on ethnographic field research findings in Bogota, Kingston, Port-au-Prince, Kampala, Beijing, Chongqing, Mumbai, Delhi, and villages in Northern India. As a result, it contributes to revealing the politics of social inclusion, offering policy proposals towards overcoming exclusions.


Contents page:


 PART ONE - CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF SOCIAL INCLUSION


1. The politics of social inclusion: introduction - Gabriele Koehler, Alberto D. Cimadamore, Fadia Kiwan, Pedro Monreal Gonzalez

2. Overcoming social exclusion in education: reflections on policy challenges - Enrique Delamonica

3. Social exclusion and the relational elements of poverty - Paul Spicker

4. Policies without politics: the exclusion of power dynamics in the construction of 'sustainable development' - Juan Telleria


PART TWO - THE POLITICS OF SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND POLICIES FOR INCLUSION


5. An alternative reading of the concept of 'inclusion': the Bolivian concept of 'community with quality of life' - Nelson Antequera Durán

6. Social growth and social transformation: experiences from the Caribbean - Aldrie Henry-Lee

7. Critical and propositional urban planning: the co-production approach in Kampala - Gilbert Siame

8. Between control and compassion: the politics of neighbourhood community services in urban China - Judith Audin

9. The right to centrality and discursive articulations: a case of city planning policies in Delhi - Ashok Kumar

10. Undermining the SDGs: informality, patronage and the politics of inclusion in Mumbai - Joop de Wit

11. Politics of caste-based exclusion: poverty alleviation schemes in rural India - Rachel Kurian and Deepak Singh

12. Transformations necessary to 'leave no one behind': social exclusion in South Asia - Gabriele Koehler and Annie Namala


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Justice for Child Victims and Witnesses of Crime

 

Publisher: Pretoria University Law Press (PULP)

Year of publication: 2008

Child victims and witnesses of crime are amongst the most vulnerable people in the justice system. The United Nations issued guidelines for their protection in 2005. This publication sets out the guidelines in the South African context. Does South African law reflect these guidelines? What are the challenges to be faced in order to bring South African law and practice in line with these international standards? Answers to these questions are provided in this up-to-date analysis of the current state of the law.

This publication is a useful guide for students of law, as well as for practitioners who work with children in the courts. Launched during the internationally recognised “16 days of activism to end violence against women and children”, the publication is designed to be of assistance in the everyday working life of presiding officers, prosecutors, defence lawyers, social workers, intermediaries and other professionals.

Visit the Centre for Child Law website: www.childlawsa.com .

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Regulatory Theory

: Foundations and applications

 

Publisher: ANU Press

Year of publication: 2017

This volume introduces readers to regulatory theory. Aimed at practitioners, postgraduate students and those interested in regulation as a cross-cutting theme in the social sciences, Regulatory Theory includes chapters on the social-psychological foundations of regulation as well as theories of regulation such as responsive regulation, smart regulation and nodal governance. It explores the key themes of compliance, legal pluralism, meta-regulation, the rule of law, risk, accountability, globalisation and regulatory capitalism. The environment, crime, health, human rights, investment, migration and tax are among the fields of regulation considered in this ground-breaking book. Each chapter introduces the reader to key concepts and ideas and contains suggestions for further reading. 

The contributors, who either are or have been connected to the Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet) at The Australian National University, include John Braithwaite, Valerie Braithwaite, Peter Grabosky, Neil Gunningham, Fiona Haines, Terry Halliday, David Levi-Faur, Christine Parker, Colin Scott and Clifford Shearing.

Contents page:

1. Regulation, institutions and networks 

Section 1: Social-psychological foundations and methodological issues 

2. Closing the gap between regulation and the community 

3. Procedural justice and its role in promoting voluntary compliance 

4. Shame in regulatory settings 

5. Methodological approaches and considerations in regulatory research 

6. Multi-sited fieldwork in regulatory studies 

Section 2: Theories and concepts of regulation 

7. Types of responsiveness 

8. Smart regulation 

9. Meta-regulation 

10. A nodal perspective of governance: Advances in nodal governance thinking 

11. Regulation and risk 

12. Public accountability: Conceptual, historical and epistemic mappings 

13. Compliance: 14 questions 

14. Legal pluralism: The regulation of traditional medicine in the Cook Islands 

Section 3: The state and regulatory transformations 

15. Regulatory globalisation 

16. The regulatory state and beyond 

17. Regulatory capitalism 

18. Time and temporality in global governance 

19. International negotiations 

20. Transnational non-state regulatory regimes 

Section 4: Rights-based regulation 

21. A regulatory perspective on the international human rights system 

22. Global governance of labour migration: From ‘management’ of migration to an integrated rights-based approach 

23. Regulatory rule of law 

24. Regulating sex in peace operations 

25. Holding individuals to account beyond the state? Rights, regulation and the resort to international criminal responsibility 

Section 5: Crime and regulation 

26. Controlling crime through networks 

27. Scaling criminology: From street violence to atrocity crimes 

28. Experiments in restorative justice 

29. Prevention of transnational environmental crime and regulatory pluralism 

30. Spam and crime 

31. The governance of cyberspace 

Section 6: Regulating for health 

32. Scientific evaluation of law’s effects on public health 

33. Governance, regulation and health equity 

34. Patients as regulatory actors in their own health care 

35. The regulation of work health and safety 

Section 7: The regulation of commerce 

36. Consumer protection: A case of successful regulation 

37. Shifting profits and hidden accounts: Regulating tax havens 

38. Investor–state dispute settlement 

39. The networked (agency) regulation of competition 

40. Trust, culture and the limits of management-based regulation: Lessons from the mining industry 

41. Urban sustainability and resilience 

42. Environmental regulation and governance 

Section 8: Regulatory futures

43. Regulating capitalism’s processes of destruction

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