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Tiny, remote Namibian clan claims world renowed Etosha National Park as ancestral land
Tiny, remote Namibian clan claims world renowed Etosha National Park as ancestral land

Perhaps they didn’t realise it, but when eight members of Namibia’s Hai||om people went to court for what they claimed was their traditional land, they raised a number of other burning socio-political issues as well. The Hai||om live in a remote northern area of Namibia, overlapping the pristine Etosha National Park, environmentally sensitive and a major world tourist attraction for the country. Could the eight litigants claim the entire park as ancestral land, acting in a representative capacity for all the Hai||om people?

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.

Wife "charged" 15 cows by traditional court after husband commits suicide
Wife "charged" 15 cows by traditional court after husband commits suicide

A woman whose husband committed suicide after he assaulted her and she laid a complaint with the police, has been “charged” by a traditional court in Namibia for causing her husband’s death. The woman, Kathova Shiputa, was told she should not have gone to their joint home where she had found her husband in bed with another woman, and that she should not have complained to the police after her husband threatened her with a knife. “Convicted” and sentenced to pay 15 cows or N$30 000 as punishment, she was told that if she did not pay by the end of May 2019, the “village police” would come to collect the cattle. This is far from the only example of traditional courts in Namibia acting beyond their powers. In this particular case, Shiputa has asked the high court to intervene and set aside the proceedings as well as the decision of the headmen and their “court”.

Keen interest in Jifa's first environmental law training course
Keen interest in Jifa's first environmental law training course

Judges from across the African continent have been attending the first specialist course offered by the Judicial Institute for Africa (Jifa) on environmental law. The week-long course has brought together specialists in the field and already the participating judges have been asking for a further in-depth course as they have now become aware of how many of the matters they will hear could involve issues of environmental law.

Self-confessed poachers acquitted after prosecution’s mistake
Self-confessed poachers acquitted after prosecution’s mistake

Two Tanzanian poachers, who admitted they shot two animals in a national park, have been acquitted and set free on a second appeal. The country’s chief justice and two other appeal court judges found the prosecution had made crucial mistakes in the trial of the two men. The poachers had initially pleaded guilty to tracking and killing an impala and a kudu in the Ruaha National Park.

‘Hear the voices speaking on behalf of the dead’ – court
‘Hear the voices speaking on behalf of the dead’ – court

At the centre of most murder trials are two people: the attacker and the deceased. During evidence in mitigation of sentence, the court and the public hear something about the person on trial. But when, if ever, is the voice of the deceased person heard? Who speaks for him or her? This decision, last of our special Women’s Month focus on decisions affecting women, is by Judge Christie Liebenberg of Namibia’s high court. He said he saw no reason why the family of a murdered person should not lead evidence about him or her as a person and the impact of that death on the family. Once the family evidence had been led, it could be considered when the court decided on aggravating circumstances. Given the horrifying number of gender-based killings, this approach is to be welcomed: it would, in theory at least, allow such a woman a voice in court.

Conservation victory as Kenyan judge rules against Ministers
Conservation victory as Kenyan judge rules against Ministers

One of Kenya’s fabled national parks and the most remote of them all, is allegedly under threat by the actions of two cabinet ministers and the neglect of the country’s wildlife service. That is according to claims made in litigation before the environmental and land court. The case concerns the Malka Mari national park along the Daua River forming the border with Ethiopia in the far north east of Kenya and near the boundary with Somalia. Granting an urgent interim order to prevent the ministers allocating any further land to squatters or offering tenders for any further buildings or infrastructure, the judge said the matter was in the public interest and that the ministers and other respondents had not challenged any of the allegations against them.

Magistrates in Lesotho introduce new deal for awaiting trial prisoners
Magistrates in Lesotho introduce new deal for awaiting trial prisoners

Magistrates across Lesotho, concerned about the continuing conditions there that they believe impact negatively on the rule of law, judicial integrity and general confidence in the legal system, have taken a number of resolutions likely to impact on the courts and the public. Among others, they have resolved to release people being held awaiting trial if their cases ‘are not prosecuted within a reasonable time’. They have also resolved to dismiss criminal cases where ‘pending investigations’ have continued for an ‘unreasonably long time’.

Copyright & A2K Issues - 28 August 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)

Copyright & A2K Issues - 23 August 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)

Daughters: 'children of a lesser god’
Daughters: 'children of a lesser god’

This case is the third in our Women’s Month series on how courts deal with matters involving women. The case includes 13 invisible daughters and a fraudulent attempt by the estate administrator to cut out all the other sons and direct family from inheriting. So when Judge William Musyoka, of Kenya's high court - the third to become involved in the matter - found out, he put his foot down. He referred to the law on succession and to the constitution. Both make clear that discrimination against daughters and wives would not be tolerated. When sons and conniving chiefs tried to prevent daughters and wives from inheriting, the court was obliged to stop it, he said. Because Judge Musyoka bothered to give the papers and previous court orders very close scrutiny, he picked up the problem. Then he insisted that the daughters, along with the widows, had to be involved. And that is why his decision is our judgment of the week.

Former judge Michael Ramodibedi RIP
Former judge Michael Ramodibedi RIP

The most controversial judge in the SADC region over the last several decades, Justice Michael Ramodibedi, has died. Judge Ramodibedi, 74, died in Johannesburg but the cause of death has not been confirmed. He leaves his wife and five children. Among other positions, the judge served as Chief Justice of what is now known as Eswatini, and as president of the court of appeal in his home country, Lesotho. He left the bench in both countries under a cloud of disgrace.

Copyright & A2K Issues - 21 August 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)

Copyright & A2K Issues - 20 August 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)

Copyright & A2K Issues - 19 August 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)

A challenge for women in Kenya: get this law changed
A challenge for women in Kenya: get this law changed

Our Women’s Month judgment this week comes from Kenya’s Judge William Musyoka. What makes his decision stand out is that he has found and highlighted an anomaly in the law dealing with rape, a particularly traumatic crime that is all too prevalent. He explained that the same set of facts could be considered under either of two provisions, but one could attract a much lighter sentence than the other. He said he did not understand why there should be two provisions and why, as in this case, the state would choose to charge the accused under the section that would result in a lesser sentence. It is a welcome and important step when judgments pay such close attention to the laws that affect so many – most of them women and children; when they challenging anomalies that see perpetrators walking away with ‘a slap on the wrist’, as Judge Musyoka put it. His judgment is a challenge to the legislature to reconsider the law and close the escape route that could see a rapist spending very little time in prison despite the horrendous nature of the crime.

Mentally ill man can’t be returned to Sierra Leone – UK courts
Mentally ill man can’t be returned to Sierra Leone – UK courts

There might be widespread agreement that mental illness should be de-stigmatised, but that does not make it any easier for courts dealing with people who show signs of serious psychological ill-health and who are liable to mistreatment because of their illness. In this case, the UK courts were faced with the problem of a man from Sierra Leone, who believed he was the son of legendary Jamaican reggae singer Bob Marley and had absolutely no understanding of his mental condition. He has been fighting to stay on in the UK, saying the government of Sierra Leone would victimize him on his return because Marley, his father, had started a local war there. The government would also ‘want to recruit him’, again because Marley was his father.

Swazi court refuses bail for suspected human trafficker
Swazi court refuses bail for suspected human trafficker

With the eyes of the world now more sharply focused on human trafficking, all attempts by African courts to help stamp it out are important and will be reflected in annual international surveys. Though cases of trafficking are still something of a rarity, a Swazi judge, Mzwandile Fakudze, recently heard a bail application by a suspected trafficker and turned him down.

Judge slams domestic violence, femicide and urges tougher sentences

The first judgment chosen as part of Jifa’s Women’s Month focus is from Eswatini. It deals with the murder of a young woman who had a young child, now an orphan. What makes this judgment on sentence different from many others we read each week, is the comments by the presiding judge, Titus Mlangeni. Many judges handle cases of violence against women as though they were traffic offences, with no comment on the impact of such crimes on the whole of society. Judge Mlangeni, however, speaks about the prevalence of domestic violence and the need for men to learn that they should walk away from disappointments in love rather than physically acting out their anger. He also says the time has come to increase sentences in such cases because domestic violence has become such a problem. If you were a member of the girl’s family, or a woman or girl living in Eswatini, and you heard this judgment, you would feel the judge understood the constant pain and the fear you suffered. If you were a man, you would also feel the impact of his words.

RIP Seychelles Justice Prithviraj Fekna
RIP Seychelles Justice Prithviraj Fekna

Justice Prithviraj Fekna, who served on the Seychelles Court of Appeal, died unexpected this week. He had been sworn into office as a non-resident member of the appeal court on 27 June this year. Previously he had been a member of the Supreme Court of Mauritius.

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