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Jul
28
2022

Top Namibian court slams capital’s municipality over rule of law transgressions

By Carmel Rickard

Unlawful action by the municipality of Namibia’s capital city, Windhoek, has been slammed by the Supreme Court, whose judges said the municipality’s ‘resort to self-help’ transgressed the country’s commitment to the rule of law. They were deciding an appeal related to the municipality’s actions against Paratus, a licensed telecommunications company that was installing fibre optic cables in the city.

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The municipality of Windhoek has come in for serious criticism by Namibia’s Supreme Court for ‘deplorable’ abuse of power and acting outside the rule of law in such a way as to warrant the ‘severe censure’ of the court.

Jul
21
2022

African Court orders Malawi to compensate victim of oppressive pre-democracy laws

By Carmel Rickard

A judgment of the African Court has brought the promise of justice to a Malawian family, victim of the country’s one-party, undemocratic and often brutal past, and that has been unable to obtain redress through Malawi’s own courts.

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The long-term impact of Malawi’s brutal and undemocratic past has been highlighted by a recent decision of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Jul
21
2022

Namibia’s apex court confirms new trend in media freedom cases

By Carmel Rickard

In a new judgment of extraordinary importance for freedom of expression and media freedom in Namibia, that country’s highest court has confirmed the development of the common law to give greater protection to the Namibian media so that, as the court put it, its ‘important democratic role of providing information to the public is not imperilled by the risk of defamation claims.’

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This new judgment illustrates how Namibia’s highest court is determined to protect media freedom, given its constitutional importance in that country. But behind the theoretical questions lie contested facts concerning the fate of three elephants, and a defamation case against the Namibian Sun, arising out of this dispute.

Jul
07
2022

Law imposing three-year wait for divorce found unconstitutional by Kenya’s appeal court

By Carmel Rickard

With five forms of marriage from which to choose, couples in Kenya could find it easy enough to tie the knot. It might be a different story for some if they want an early divorce, however. That’s because those opting for a civil marriage must wait a minimum of three years before they may start divorce proceedings. Claiming this provision is unconstitutional, a Kenyan advocate has brought legal action to test the three-year limitation.

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Couples wanting to marry in Kenya have some decisions to make: there are no fewer than five forms of marriage from which to choose.

Jul
07
2022

Major new global research shows judges under stress – and without help to cope

By Carmel Rickard

A significant new report on judicial well-being has been published by the Global Judicial Integrity Network. It’s the result of a survey involving 758 judges from 102 countries across all parts of the globe. The high response rate is seen as indicating that the topic is one of great interest to judges generally. The report gives important data about the causes of stress among judges and the consequences of that stress; judicial responses to the changes forced by Covid-19, and what could be done to ensure better mental well-being among judges in the future.

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Major new research by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and its Global Judicial Integrity Network, shows a strong link, worldwide, between judicial well-being and judicial integrity.

Jun
30
2022

African Court orders that Kenya pays reparations to Ogiek people of Mau Forest

By Carmel Rickard

One of Kenya’s most vulnerable communities, the Ogiek people of the Mau Forest, have been awarded more than USD 1.3m by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights for breaches of their rights under the African Charter. The court found the breaches were committed by the Kenyan government, which has tried to remove the Ogiek from the forest to allow other undertakings there. According to the Kenyan government, much of its activity in the forest was to protect the local water sources which are of great importance to the rest of the country.

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The normally formal, hushed corridors of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Arusha, Tanzania, erupted with chanting and dancing last week, after the court read its decision on the reparations that must be made by the Kenyan government to the Ogiek people of the Mau forest.

Jun
30
2022

‘Cry-baby’ politician should not have brought party political case to court – judge

By Carmel Rickard

When Malawian politician Shadrick Namalomba asked for judicial intervention on the question of where he should sit in the national assembly, Judge Mzonde Mvula set him straight. Such issues were not appropriate for the courts to consider, he said. It was clearly an issue related to conflict within the official opposition, and for a variety of reasons, it should never have been brought to court.

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During March, Shadrick Namalomba, a member of Malawi’s opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), asked the court to intervene in a dispute he had with his party. In particular, he wanted the leader of the DPP to be stopped from allocating him to seat 99 and later, to seat 100, for parliamentary debate.

Jun
23
2022

Eswatini supreme court calls delayed trial ‘a form of torture’

By Carmel Rickard

Eswatini’s highest court has strongly criticised that country’s prosecution service for how long it took to bring a murder case to trial. Writing a review judgment in that case, the court called the 13 years it took to begin the trial ‘a form of torture’ for the accused in the matter, adding that the delays were unconstitutional.

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The supreme court in Eswatini has made stinging criticism of the country’s prosecution services because of how slow it was in bringing a murder suspect to trial. The court called these delays ‘not only a form of torture’ but also unconstitutional because it contravened ‘the speedy trial’ requirements of the country’s supreme law.

Jun
23
2022

Nigeria’s top judges in public spat over disputed benefits - CJ says it's 'dancing naked in the market place'

By Carmel Rickard

Members of Nigeria’s apex court have come out strongly against the leader of the country’s judiciary, Tanko Muhammad. In the first letter of its kind, they have written to him, as Chief Justice of Nigeria to complain about a variety of issues related to conditions at court as well as conditions under which the judges operate.

In an unprecedented move, the entire complement of Nigeria’s supreme court has signed a protest letter sent to the country’s chief justice, Tanko Muhammad.

Jun
16
2022

Impact on asylum seekers of South Africa’s tardy officialdom

By Carmel Rickard

For many reasons, South Africa is not an easy place to seek asylum, and new research by human rights lawyer Jacob van Garderen highlights some of the difficulties faced by asylum seekers as well as other migrants. Among the worst issues he found were ongoing problems over access to safe housing, difficulties around documentation because of a government system that doesn’t appear to be working – and the ever present threat of xenophobia.

Evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs (DHA) is not managing to process asylum seeker claims, according to interviews and research by South African human rights lawyer, Jacob van Garderen.

He said that one of the results of the failure by DHA to carry out this critical function was that asylum seekers could not be properly documented and this affected every aspect of their lives.

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