Articles - 2018

Copyright & A2K Issues - 11 December 2018

This is a free online international Information Service covering various topics, including copyright, plagiarism and other IP matters, Open Access, open publishing, open learning resources, institutional repositories, scholarly communication, digitization and library matters, mobile technologies, issues affecting access to knowledge (A2K), particularly in developing countries; WTO and WIPO treaties and matters; Free Trade Agreements and TRIPS Plus; useful websites, conference alerts, etc.  Archives are available at:  http://www.africanlii.org/content/copyright-a2k-information .  If you would like to subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, this newsletter, please do so at:  http://lists.wits.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/copyrightanda2kinfo    or email  Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za  only (N.B. PLEASE DO NOT SEND TO WHOLE MAILING LIST)      N.B. THIS NEWSLETTER WILL NOT BE DISTRIBUTED FROM 12 JANUARY 2018 UNTIL MID-JANUARY 2019.  WISHING YOU A VERY HAPPY AND BLESSED CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.  FOR THOSE WHO CELEBRATE OTHER FESTIVALS OR HOLY DAYS, ALL THE BEST TO YOU TOO.

Copyright & A2K Issues - 7 December 2018

This is a free online international Information Service covering various topics, including copyright, plagiarism and other IP matters, Open Access, open publishing, open learning resources, institutional repositories, scholarly communication, digitization and library matters, mobile technologies, issues affecting access to knowledge (A2K), particularly in developing countries; WTO and WIPO treaties and matters; Free Trade Agreements and TRIPS Plus; useful websites, conference alerts, etc.  Archives are available at:  http://www.africanlii.org/content/copyright-a2k-information .  If you would like to subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, this newsletter, please do so at:  http://lists.wits.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/copyrightanda2kinfo    or email  Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za  only (N.B. PLEASE DO NOT SEND TO WHOLE MAILING LIST)

Judges draw the line in witchcraft case

WITCHCRAFT is a hot topic in Zambia where the courts seem to deal with such matters more often than in many other countries. In this case the two accused were convicted of murdering an elderly woman, but pleaded their belief in witchcraft as an extenuating circumstance. Though found guilty of murder, their alleged beliefs helped reduce their punishment to a life sentence instead of the death penalty that would otherwise have been mandatory. The two then appealed against sentence only, on the basis that it was “manifestly excessive” to imprison them to life since they were first offenders. Hearing this case, Zambia’s supreme court took the opportunity to restate its views on when a belief in witchcraft would amount to extenuating circumstances. Given the number of such cases, this is a timely reminder – though the results of their deliberation would have come as a shock to the two accused.

Copyright & A2K Issues - 27 November 2018

This is a free online international Information Service covering various topics, including copyright, plagiarism and other IP matters, Open Access, open publishing, open learning resources, institutional repositories, scholarly communication, digitization and library matters, mobile technologies, issues affecting access to knowledge (A2K), particularly in developing countries; WTO and WIPO treaties and matters; Free Trade Agreements and TRIPS Plus; useful websites, conference alerts, etc.  Archives are available at:  http://www.africanlii.org/content/copyright-a2k-information .  If you would like to subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, this newsletter, please do so at:  http://lists.wits.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/copyrightanda2kinfo    or email  Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za  only ( N.B. PLEASE DO NOT SEND TO WHOLE MAILING LIST)

Copyright & A2K Issues - 23 November 2018

This is a free online international Information Service covering various topics, including copyright, plagiarism and other IP matters, Open Access, open publishing, open learning resources, institutional repositories, scholarly communication, digitization and library matters, mobile technologies, issues affecting access to knowledge (A2K), particularly in developing countries; WTO and WIPO treaties and matters; Free Trade Agreements and TRIPS Plus; useful websites, conference alerts, etc.  Archives are available at:  http://www.africanlii.org/content/copyright-a2k-information .  If you would like to subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, this newsletter, please do so at:  http://lists.wits.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/copyrightanda2kinfo    or email  Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za  only (N.B. PLEASE DO NOT SEND TO WHOLE MAILING LIST)

Copyright & A2K Issues - 20 November 2018

This is a free online international Information Service covering various topics, including copyright, plagiarism and other IP matters, Open Access, open publishing, open learning resources, institutional repositories, scholarly communication, digitization and library matters, mobile technologies, issues affecting access to knowledge (A2K), particularly in developing countries; WTO and WIPO treaties and matters; Free Trade Agreements and TRIPS Plus; useful websites, conference alerts, etc.  Archives are available at:  http://www.africanlii.org/content/copyright-a2k-information .  If you would like to subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, this newsletter, please do so at:  http://lists.wits.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/copyrightanda2kinfo    or email  Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za  only (N.B. PLEASE DO NOT SEND TO WHOLE MAILING LIST)

Copyright & A2K Issues - 8 November 2018

This is a free online international Information Service covering various topics, including copyright, plagiarism and other IP matters, Open Access, open publishing, open learning resources, institutional repositories, scholarly communication, digitization and library matters, mobile technologies, issues affecting access to knowledge (A2K), particularly in developing countries; WTO and WIPO treaties and matters; Free Trade Agreements and TRIPS Plus; useful websites, conference alerts, etc.  Archives are available at:  http://www.africanlii.org/content/copyright-a2k-information .  If you would like to subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, this newsletter, please do so at:  http://lists.wits.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/copyrightanda2kinfo    or email  Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za  only (N.B. PLEASE DO NOT SEND TO WHOLE MAILING LIST)

Copyright & A2K Issues - 13 November 2018

This is a free online international Information Service covering various topics, including copyright, plagiarism and other IP matters, Open Access, open publishing, open learning resources, institutional repositories, scholarly communication, digitization and library matters, mobile technologies, issues affecting access to knowledge (A2K), particularly in developing countries; WTO and WIPO treaties and matters; Free Trade Agreements and TRIPS Plus; useful websites, conference alerts, etc.  Archives are available at:  http://www.africanlii.org/content/copyright-a2k-information .  If you would like to subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, this newsletter, please do so at:  http://lists.wits.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/copyrightanda2kinfo    or email  Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za  only (N.B. PLEASE DO NOT SEND TO WHOLE MAILING LIST)

Copyright & A2K Issues - 7 November 2018

This is a free online international Information Service covering various topics, including copyright, plagiarism and other IP matters, Open Access, open publishing, open learning resources, institutional repositories, scholarly communication, digitization and library matters, mobile technologies, issues affecting access to knowledge (A2K), particularly in developing countries; WTO and WIPO treaties and matters; Free Trade Agreements and TRIPS Plus; useful websites, conference alerts, etc.  Archives are available at:  http://www.africanlii.org/content/copyright-a2k-information .  If you would like to subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, this newsletter, please do so at:  http://lists.wits.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/copyrightanda2kinfo    or email  Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za  only (N.B. PLEASE DO NOT SEND TO WHOLE MAILING LIST)

The Complexity of Land Expropriation

TO an outsider, the case might at first sight seem no more than a relatively simple dispute over ownership of the land on which a shopping mall is being built. But the case of Stantoll v Johannes involves far more complex issues than that. It is also about the difficulties surrounding state expropriation of land and subsequent expectations of compensation, at a time when this is a hot issue in many African countries. In fact, the case has caused something of a headache for the presiding judge, as well as for the judiciary in Namibia. As Carmel Rickard explains, the presiding judge has become the focus of protests by land-rights groups with allegations that he is a “foreign land-monger”, and, apparently to deflate growing tension, the Judge President has taken over the disputed case as well as a second case that is just as contentious.

Copyright & A2K Issues - 1 November 2018

This is a free online international Information Service covering various topics, including copyright, plagiarism and other IP matters, Open Access, open publishing, open learning resources, institutional repositories, scholarly communication, digitization and library matters, mobile technologies, issues affecting access to knowledge (A2K), particularly in developing countries; WTO and WIPO treaties and matters; Free Trade Agreements and TRIPS Plus; useful websites, conference alerts, etc.  Archives are available at:  http://www.africanlii.org/content/copyright-a2k-information .  If you would like to subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, this newsletter, please do so at:  http://lists.wits.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/copyrightanda2kinfo    or email  Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za  only (N.B. PLEASE DO NOT SEND TO WHOLE MAILING LIST)

Making decisions of the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights better known

A SPECIAL training team visited Arusha, Tanzania earlier this month to work with the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights on how to make decisions of the court better known. The aim was to formulate a protocol for issuing simplified summaries of judgments so that potential litigants, public interest lawyers and the media will more easily understand the issues and the outcome of cases decided by the court.

Copyright & A2K Issues - 18 October 2018 (Part 1)

This is a free online international Information Service covering various topics, including copyright, plagiarism and other IP matters, Open Access, open publishing, open learning resources, institutional repositories, scholarly communication, digitization and library matters, mobile technologies, issues affecting access to knowledge (A2K), particularly in developing countries; WTO and WIPO treaties and matters; Free Trade Agreements and TRIPS Plus; useful websites, conference alerts, etc.  Archives are available at:  http://www.africanlii.org/content/copyright-a2k-information .  If you would like to subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, this newsletter, please do so at:  http://lists.wits.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/copyrightanda2kinfo    or email  Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za  only (N.B. PLEASE DO NOT SEND TO WHOLE MAILING LIST)

Copyright & A2K Issues - 18 October 2018 (Part 2)

This is a free online international Information Service covering various topics, including copyright, plagiarism and other IP matters, Open Access, open publishing, open learning resources, institutional repositories, scholarly communication, digitization and library matters, mobile technologies, issues affecting access to knowledge (A2K), particularly in developing countries; WTO and WIPO treaties and matters; Free Trade Agreements and TRIPS Plus; useful websites, conference alerts, etc.  Archives are available at:  http://www.africanlii.org/content/copyright-a2k-information .  If you would like to subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, this newsletter, please do so at:  http://lists.wits.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/copyrightanda2kinfo    or email  Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za  only (N.B. PLEASE DO NOT SEND TO WHOLE MAILING LIST)

Unhelpful assessors throw life-line for murder convict

THE courts in Tanzania still interpret the law to mean that the death penalty is mandatory in the case of murder, but it is decades since last anyone was hanged. As the numbers on death row increase, judges in those courts remain scrupulous in ensuring that all the elements of a fair trial are observed in cases potentially involving capital punishment. Take the case of Hilda Innocent, convicted of murdering her husband. Tanzania’s highest court found certain safety nets had not been put in place during her trial – the assessors, who were appointed to assist the judge in her case, had not participated properly. As a result the trial was nullified and a new trial must now take place. This story was first published in Legalbrief *

Best – and worst – Kenya’s courts have it all

KENYA’S courts find themselves in a unique position: they have a starring role on the list of both the world’s best – and the world’s worst – judgments. The awards are made every year by Women’s Link Worldwide, and acknowledge the role that a court’s decisions may make to improving gender equality or to making it worse. A case from Kenya is shortlisted for the 2018 Golden Gavel award because it makes life better for women. Winners of that award will be announced at the end of October 2018. On the other hand, an outright winner of last year’s Golden Bludgeon award for negatively affecting women’s rights, was another case from Kenya’s courts.

Copyright & A2K Issues - 4 October 2018

This is a free online international Information Service covering various topics, including copyright, plagiarism and other IP matters, Open Access, open publishing, open learning resources, institutional repositories, scholarly communication, digitization and library matters, mobile technologies, issues affecting access to knowledge (A2K), particularly in developing countries; WTO and WIPO treaties and matters; Free Trade Agreements and TRIPS Plus; useful websites, conference alerts, etc.  Archives are available at:  http://www.africanlii.org/content/copyright-a2k-information .  If you would like to subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, this newsletter, please do so at:  http://lists.wits.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/copyrightanda2kinfo    or email  Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za  only (N.B. PLEASE DO NOT SEND TO WHOLE MAILING LIST)

Challenging sentencing considerations in Malawi's cashgate scandal

Depending on the sources you consult, Malawi’s infamous Cashgate corruption scandal involved between MWK236 billion and MWK577 billion of public funds. This wholesale looting of government money was made possible by loopholes in state financial systems, exploited by a wide range of people over a number of years. While trials are continuing, the most recent accused to be sentenced was a former top official in the ministry of tourism, Leonard Karonga. Carmel Rickard takes a look at some of the difficult challenges faced by the court in deciding his punishment.

Lesotho: Independence of the Judiciary in Peril
Lesotho: Independence of the Judiciary in Peril

FOR the second time this year, the political authorities in Lesotho are involved in major litigation that threatens the independence of the judiciary. As Carmel Rickard writes, the latest shock is the government’s determined efforts to get rid of Lesotho’s first woman chief justice, Nthomeng Majara.

Namibia: Bending a little bit backwards

LAY litigant Ronald Somaeb was in over his head when he attacked the right of any Namibian judge to hear the case in which he was suing the chief justice: all judges would be thinking “about (their) boss, the chief justice” and would be biased in favour of the CJ, he said. Somaeb's efforts came to nothing, however, and his case has been dismissed as vexatious and frivolous.

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