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Jun
25
2020

Supply doctors, health workers with protection, court tells Lesotho government

By Carmel Rickard

Doctors in Lesotho have won a major constitutional battle. They brought a case against the country’s minister of health, the minister of finance and the minister of public service, among others, claiming that their constitutional rights had been infringed in a number of ways. In particular they said they were not being provided with proper personal protective equipment (PPE). They were also unhappy because long-established supplementary payments to them had been cut off by government, all in the name of shortage of funds.

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There’s one thing any reader of this judgment will ask – who would want to work as a doctor in Lesotho right now? And the answer must be that very few outsiders would put their hands up to serve there, under present conditions.

Jun
24
2020

'Indeed the dead have rights' - Kenyan high court in Covid exhumation case

By Carmel Rickard

Relatives of a Kenyan man who died shortly after the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, have asked that his hurriedly-buried body be exhumed, tested for Covid-19 and then re-buried with proper traditional rites. They complained that during a late-night burial, the body of James Onyango was put into a shallow grave wrapped in a plastic bag, while a ‘battalion of police officers’ and local government officials surrounded the family house. This was contrary to custom and had caused stigma in their traditional village.

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Jun
23
2020

Copyright & A2K Issues - 23 June 2020

By Denise Nicholson

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; u

 

Intellectual Property:

SA Copyright Amendment Bill goes back to Parliament

https://pmg.org.za/bill/705/

President Cyril Ramaphosa refers Copyright and Performers’ Protection Amendment Bills to Parliament

https://bit.ly/2NqJ9W4

Blind SA Constitutional Challenge of the Copyright Amendment Bill

https://blindsa.org.za/news/

Jun
18
2020

A war against the nation's women and children - Ramaphosa

By Carmel Rickard

In his most recent address to the country on the Covid-19 situation, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has spoken about easing the restrictions imposed on the country since March 27. But he took his audience by surprise when he deviated from his usual format to speak strongly – even with some passion – about the terrible increase of killings and abuse of women and children that has characterised the period of restrictions imposed to curb the Coronavirus.

 

President Cyril Ramaphosa currently chairs the African Union, and in that capacity he used his address of June 17 to speak about the supply of testing kits, personal protection and other resources needed by all African countries.

Jun
18
2020

Major decision on gay rights by US Supreme Court

By Carmel Rickard

The US Supreme Court this week delivered a judgment in which the majority held it was unlawful, under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to dismiss anyone on grounds of ‘sex’ – and that this included firing anyone because they were gay or transgender. Three judges disagreed, saying the law dealt with ‘sex’ – not ‘sexual identity’ or gender.

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June 2020 started out as a bad month for the world’s gay community and other sexual minorities. Because of Covid-19 the usually enormous Pride marches and celebrations held in June were called off. There were also concerns that the rainbow flag, long the symbol for Pride marches and protests, was now being used in the UK and elsewhere to show community support for health workers helping people who have Covid-19.

Jun
18
2020

Judge murdered while presiding in massive DRC corruption trial

By Carmel Rickard

Judge Raphael Yanyi, presiding in the high-profile trial of a senior Democratic Republic of Congo official facing corruption charges, died on May 26. Three successive versions of the cause of his death have now been given – a heart attack, poisoning and stab wounds to the head. His family is calling for an independent autopsy to be conducted by international experts who are independent of the DRC government.

When the death of Judge Raphael Yanyi was first announced on May 26, the authorities in Democratic Republic of Congo said he had died of a heart attack. Now however two other versions have emerged. This week the justice minister and DRC's Deputy Prime Minister, Celestin Tunda Ya Kasende, said that an autopsy showed that the judge had died ‘a violent death, due to the blows of sharp points or knife-like objects, which were thrust into his head’.

Jun
14
2020

Malawi's judicial crisis deepens: resistance to gvmt moves placing CJ on immediate leave

By Carmel Rickard

Malawi remains tense after last weekend’s shock government announcement of action against the country’s Chief Justice, Andrew Nyirenda. The government said that, with immediate effect, it was sending him on leave ‘pending retirement’. That announcement galvanised the local and international community and led to protests in a number of Malawian cities. It also led to many statements of support for Malawi’s judiciary, including from other African Chief Justices.

After some weeks of threats against the judiciary, culminating last week in a series of statements of support for the judges (as reported on 11 June 2020), the government moved late Friday 12 June to put the Chief Justice of Malawi, Justice Andrew Nyirenda, on enforced leave. An offic

Jun
12
2020

Copyright & A2K Issues - 12 June 2020

By Denise Nicholson

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; u

 

Intellectual Property:

Karjiker stoops low with claims that Blind SA being used in Copyright Amendment Bill fight

https://bit.ly/2AkyXvJ

You have hurt and insulted visually impaired people, Professor Karjiker

https://bit.ly/2BVkAhz

Proposals for Copyright Law and Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Jun
11
2020

Judiciary in Malawi under threat – strong support offered

By Carmel Rickard

Growing animosity expressed by Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika against the country’s judiciary has provoked shocked reaction by two major legal bodies in Malawi, the Malawi Law Society and the Magistrates and Judges Association of Malawi. Both strongly criticised the President’s comments. Now several leading international legal organisations have issued a statement supporting the judiciary and restating the need for its independence to be respected.

Since the high court of Malawi declared that national polls of 2019 were invalid, tension between the government and the judiciary has escalated. It has become even more intense following the supreme court’s ratification of the high court’s finding.

Jun
11
2020

Lessons for Covid-19 from HIV response: don’t forget vulnerable groups - women, the unemployed – and sexual minorities

By Carmel Rickard

In a webinar this week, arranged by UNAIDS and the SADC-Lawyers Association, speakers teased out what could be learned from the response to HIV as countries struggled to manage the impact of Covid-19 on people’s safety.

Speaking at the start of an online seminar co-hosted by the SADC Lawyers Association and UNAIDS, president of SADC-LA, Max Boqwana, must have startled some of the large, international audience. The webinar, staged earlier this week, was slated to consider an important issue for the strange times we are now living in: what lessons learned from the HIV response would be useful for the present, and in particular for the impact of Covid-19 on social justice, protection and promotion of human rights and the prevention of gender-based violence?

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