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Don’t expect judges to do your work for you, counsel told
Don’t expect judges to do your work for you, counsel told

Ethical and procedural issues have been strongly taken up by Ghana’s Supreme Court in an important and wide-ranging new decision – along with a pronouncement that an offer and acceptance via electronic communication makes for a contract just as valid as if it had been put in writing and signed.

Lesotho's Acting Chief Justice names fellow judges likely biased against her
Lesotho's Acting Chief Justice names fellow judges likely biased against her

The Acting Chief Justice of Lesotho, the woman who recently brought a hall full of African judges to their feet with applause as she explained the difficult circumstances under which judges and magistrates in that country operate, is on notice that she is fighting for her professional life. Judge Maseforo Mahase says 'powerful forces' in Lesotho want her impeached. Though three local judges have been appointed to hear the case that will decide whether an impeachment tribunal should be set up to investigate allegations against her, she says the three - plus the entire high court bench of judges - should recuse themselves and that foreign judges should be asked to hear the matter.

Girl power in action at court
Girl power in action at court

Three daughters have gone to court to fight for their right to inherit from their father. This, after their brothers had divided the estate among themselves, deliberately withholding from Kenya's high court the fact that the sisters even existed.

Tanzanian lawyers in uproar after judge suspends their immediate past president from practice  
Tanzanian lawyers in uproar after judge suspends their immediate past president from practice  

When prominent Tanzanian legal counsel, Fatma Karume, argued a recent case in the high court of Tanzania, she could not have anticipated the full outcome. Sure, she lost the case, but this is something all lawyers must assume may happen at any time and in any case. But how could she have known she would also raise the anger of her court opponents and the presiding judge? Citing argument by opposing counsel that her argument had been rude and 'inappropriate', the judge decided to suspend Karume from practice, and ordered the registrar of the high court to refer a ‘professional misconduct matter’ to the advocate’s disciplinary committee.

Judge & applicant instructed same legal counsel: grounds for recusal?

In this most unusual set of circumstances, a Namibian acting judge, while still in his permanent post as principal magistrate, needed to bring an insurance claim. His insurance company sent formal instructions to counsel. Now, as acting judge, he has an applicant before him represented by the same counsel. Are these good grounds for the applicant’s recusal application?

Demolish unlawful sewerage works - environmental tribunal
Demolish unlawful sewerage works - environmental tribunal

Kenya’s National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) has been given a tough lesson in obeying the country’s environmental laws by the National Environmental Tribunal. The NEMA had given the go-ahead for a major sewerage works to be built close to a stream and a natural wetland, all of this despite objections by the local community. Now the tribunal has found that the NEMA and other parties had not properly followed the law before the project was started. The tribunal has ordered that everything related to the project must be demolished and removed, while the local soil, plants and other natural features must be restored.

Good news - and bad - for African judiciary charged with wrong-doing
Good news - and bad - for African judiciary charged with wrong-doing

For two senior African judges, this is a particularly momentous month. Justice Joseph Wowo of Nigeria, former Chief Justice of Gambia, has been effectively exonerated by a regional court after his humiliating treatment at the hands of the courts in Gambia and his dismissal by the then-President, Yahya Jammeh. Justice Wowo has also been awarded significant damages for the way he was treated. But though his trials and tribulations may now be over, serious trouble is only just starting for a member of Kenya’s Supreme Court, Justice Jackton B. Ojwang’. Chief Justice David Maraga is reported to have written to President Uhuru Kenyatta, recommending that a special tribunal be established to consider the impeachment of his suspended colleague, Justice Ojwang’.

Fight over defence fees in controversial Lesotho trial
Fight over defence fees in controversial Lesotho trial

The Zimbabwean judge due to preside in Lesotho over a series of high-profile murder and attempted murder cases, has begun to stamp his authority on the matter. This week, Judge Charles Hungwe showed his patience was running out with the constant delays preventing the case proper from getting under way. Dealing with an application in the high court, Maseru, he held that that a decision by the high court registrar to allocate state-funded pro deo counsel to the accused, was not properly made and should be declared invalid.

More Tribulations than Trials?

Two significant amendments to the Uniform Rules of Court that were published on 31 May 2019 have come into operation on 1 July 2019. The amendments to the procedure of applying for summary judgment in terms of Rule 32, and the introduction of Rule 37A regarding judicial case management respectively are likely to affect all attorneys frequenting the High Courts of South Africa.

Seychelles appoints leading Ugandan judge to its apex court
Seychelles appoints leading Ugandan judge to its apex court

The Court of Appeal in Seychelles, that country’s highest judicial forum, has been joined by one of the continent’s leading judges who is also a prominent academic writer on the issues of gender-based violence. Judge Lillian Tibatemwa-Ekirikubinza of Uganda’s apex court, was sworn in at State House this week, where she will sit with three other members of that bench, along with the court’s president. Her appointment will give the highest court of Seychelles additional depth on issues of rape and femicide, subjects on which she is an acknowledged expert.

‘Neglect, dereliction of duty’ by prosecution – and father convicted of child rape goes free
‘Neglect, dereliction of duty’ by prosecution – and father convicted of child rape goes free

Three judges of Zambia’s supreme court have set free a father who was convicted of raping his young daughter and sentenced to 35 years with hard labour. How did it happen that what appeared a secure conviction was set aside? How will the three judges feel about their decision which, setting the father free, could place the daughter at risk again?

Copyright & A2K Issues - 17 September 2019

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)

Society ‘crying out for miracle’ to end brutality against women - judge
Society ‘crying out for miracle’ to end brutality against women - judge

Over the last fortnight, the media in South Africa has been filled with particularly terrible crimes involving gender-based violence. In one response, an enormous crowd of women and men, dressed in black, protested outside the parliament buildings, demanding they be addressed by the President. Many were urging that a state of emergency be declared because of on-going femicide and rape. But the problem is endemic in the whole SADC region. And occasionally even the courts are moved to speak strongly on the issue. In one recent decision from Eswatini, for example, the judge hearing the matter spoke out more strongly than is usually the case against gender-based violence - and the need for a miracle to end it.

Concern over impact of Botswana's appeal decision on 'refugees'

When Botswana’s Court of Appeal delivered its recent decision on 709 people from Caprivi, living in the Dukwi refugee camp, the judgment came as a serious blow to the hopes of the refugees. It has also raised questions by the refugees and their supporters, local and international, about whether the court was correct in its approach. Less theoretically, the refugees are deeply concerned about the dangers that they believe await them once they are returned to Caprivi, something that now seems inevitable - as well as the impact on their children's education.

Contempt confirmed against former top Seychelles judge
Contempt confirmed against former top Seychelles judge

Controversial former top Seychelles judge, Durai Karunakaran, has done it again. The disgraced jurist, embroiled in yet another legal dispute relating to his behaviour, has lost his appeal against a contempt of court finding. The contempt relates to a highly offensive insult he whispered into the ear of the public prosecutor during proceedings related to another matter involving the former judge. Karunakaran quit the bench earlier this year to avoid being impeached over misbehaviour, but judgments in pending cases involving him had not yet all been finalised.

Taking pleasure in making justice accessible to the powerless – Judge Thomas Masuku
Taking pleasure in making justice accessible to the powerless – Judge Thomas Masuku

WHEN Judge Thomas Masuku was effectively expelled as a judge in Swaziland during 2011, human rights organisations said he had been the victim of a kangaroo court that breached international standards on fair trial. His sacking, at the instance of the then-Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi – since himself dismissed in disgrace – had huge potential to be a chilling effect on other members of the judiciary in that country. Why would any judge risk writing honest decisions when the chances of summary dismissal were so strong? But that expulsion was far from the end of the road for Judge Masuku, who is now a respected member of the high court in Namibia. His story should give courage to others faced with the dilemma of dispensing justice on the one hand, and fear of dismissal on the other. This month he had an interview with a journalist of the The Swaziland News, and reflected on judicial independence as well as the crucial role played by an honest, impartial judiciary in society.

Statement: Shining a light on the urgency of implementing the Regional Action Plan on Albinism in Africa
  • 11 September 2019
  • SALC

On 13 June, every year the world commemorates the International Albinism Awareness Day. This year the International Albinism Awareness day is commemorated under the theme  ‘shining our light to the world’ , providing an opportunity to reflect on progress and challenges facing persons with albinism.  SALC makes the following statement.

Copyright & A2K Issues - 10 September 2019

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)

Appeal blocks far-reaching environmental ruling
Appeal blocks far-reaching environmental ruling

Intrigues, illegalities and pollution involved in a sugar milling operation whose poisonous effluent eventually flows in Lake Victoria have been highlighted by Kenya’s environment and land court. In a far-reaching judgment, the court gave the company 120 days to sort out licences and environmental impact assessments for all their operations – or be closed down. But the Court of Appeal has now stepped in to overturn part of the lower court’s order, with a ruling that the mill may continue to operate as before until the appeal is heard. Judging from the long delays common in hearing appeals in Kenya, the sugar mill and the associated paper mill and distillery could continue polluting almost indefinitely.

Environmental law in action: Jifa training course
Environmental law in action: Jifa training course

When prominent global warming scientists hail a legal decision as a ‘watershed’ for climate change action, you know that judgment must, at the very least, make for good reading. But the judges attending last week’s environmental law training offered by the Judicial Institute for Africa (Jifa), took one step further – they met, listened to and discussed environmental law issues with the very author of that decision, Australian judge Brian Preston, chief judge of the New South Wales land and environment court.

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