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In recent years the lawfulness of certain types of sanctions and the question about the usefulness of sanctions in general have become topical and widely discussed issues. Of special significance is the expanding use by powerful states of unilateral coercive measures without Security Council authorisation, or beyond Security Council authorisation, to illustrate their displeasure with the domestic or foreign policies of certain members of the international community. Over time the nature of these measures has taken on diverse forms and their encroachment on human rights and freedoms has become a matter of international concern. This contribution examines the developments that have taken place in this context since the 2000 report of the Working Group on the negative impact of sanctions by focussing on the interventions by key United Nations bodies.

Originating as a submission made to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform by the Centre for Constitutional Rights in 2011, this paper provides an overview of some of the main aspects and key features that stem from the Green Paper on Land Reform, 2011. Following the framework of the Green Paper, this article provides a brief commentary on some of the most problematic aspects of the Green Paper, cross-referencing the key topics to the Green Paper itself as well as the other articles in the special edition of PER dealing with the Green Paper on Land Reform, 2011

The South African land control system has always, to some extent, been interfered with by government. Interventions in the course of the twentieth century in particular have resulted in an unequal, fragmented and diverse land control system. The law has been integral to this process. Since 1994, within a constitutional paradigm, interventions have been aimed at untangling the complex web of land-related measures so as to affect an equitable, co-ordinated and less complex land system. In this process law - including policy documents, plans, programmes and legislative measures - is again integral. The aim of this contribution is to ascertain whether, under the present government, the mechanics of intervention within the land reform arena have resulted overall in a sensible, workable framework within which challenges and weaknesses linked to land reform can be addressed effectively. In this regard both the structural and material dimensions of recent interventions are set out. Within this context the most recent intervention dealing with land reform in particular, the Green Paper on Land Reform of 2011, is placed in perspective and investigated further in light of the recent National Development Plan. Specific themes that have resonated in the recent mechanics of intervention, as well as the persons and communities who stand to be affected by them and the possible extent of their collective impact, are thereafter discussed. Due to the general vagueness of the Green Paper and its lack of depth and detail, the extent of the impact of the recent measures cannot be ascertained fully. The alignment of the new bodies and institutions proposed by and their contribution to actually addressing the challenges identified in the Green Paper are furthermore problematic and disappointing. Excluding vast portions of rural land comprising communal areas from all of the recent tenure-related measures is especially disconcerting. Clearly, huge gaps prevail in the resultant framework. Overall, the analysis of the recent structural and material dimensions of the recent mechanics underlines that further engineering is urgently required

This paper takes a close look at some of the main tenets set out in the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform's Green Paper on Land Reform of 2011, specifically those that have a bearing on the creation of a new framework for land law. The purpose is to advance some suggestions as to how new statutory interventions can avoid being contested for unconstitutionality. The analysis focuses on the Green Paper's notion of land as a "national asset", questioning the meaning and implications of such a notion against the debate about nationalisation of important resources. In this context, the paper is critical of the perceived tendency to introduce reforms for the mere sake of political expediency. The guidelines for state interventions with property rights that would pass constitutional muster are deduced from (mainly) the decision of First National Bank of SA Ltd t/a Wesbank v Commissioner, South African Revenue Service; First National Bank of SA Ltd t/a Wesbank v Minister of Finance 2002 4 SA 768 (CC).

Motsepe Matlala, the President of the National African Farmers Union gave an illuminating oratio on the opportunities and challenges of the 2011 Green Paper on Land Reform for the National African Farmers Union (NAFU SA)

The government set the target for redistribution of land to 30% by 2014. They have adopted the "willing-buyer-willing-seller" model that relies on a voluntary transaction between farmers and government to acquire such land. Frustrated at the slow pace of land reform, the ruling party is starting to indicate that the state will in future rely on its expropriation powers to acquire such land. Section 25 of the Constitution makes it clear that when the state expropriates property, compensation must be paid. The current act, the 1975 Expropriation Act, determines that such compensation must be market value, while the Constitution lists market value as only one of at least five factors that must be taken into account when determining compensation. There have been various attempts at drafting legislation that will bring compensation practices in line with the Constitution, with the latest Bill published in March 2013. This article focusses on the Green Paper that preceded the Bill, and argues that not much direction is given on how compensation for expropriation should be calculated.

The South African Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) recently published for comments a Revised White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage (the White Paper) dated 4 June 2013. The White Paper contains a new vision of arts and culture and is intended to replace the existing White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage dated 4 June 1996 (the 1996 White Paper). The publication of a revised white paper on cultural matters after 17 years is definitely not unwelcome but in this case a number of issues which need to be raised come to the fore.

The 2011 the Western Cape Forum for Intellectual Disability v Government of The Republic of South Africa case flagged a lot of issues faced by persons with disabilities relating to access to education in South Africa. The case tackled certain perceptions about the ineducability of persons with profound and severe disability and the remaining charity-oriented perception by the South African Department of Basic Education. While the court made several important points in advancing universal access to education, the author argues that certain holes in the judgment hinders the existence of judicial finding truly infused with concerns of substantive equality. An example of this short-coming is the court's consideration of reasonableness when the right to basic education is an immediately realisable right. The author also argues that the South African developments in education policy for persons with disability, while positive, is insufficient to truly give effect to substantive equality – the claim to equality being made in the new constitutional dispensation. There is still an attitude that is too permissive of separating students based on abilism. The social model of thinking about requires a complete transformation of the education system that would not require a classification of learners by abilities but have a different constitution so as to accommodate all students and not unduly enable one group over another. The author considers the approaches from Canada and India to explore its responses to education for students with varying levels of ability. Canada's similar conception of equality and India's influence on South African constitutionalism and shared experience with massive equality gaps make these jurisdictions instructive.

The corona virus that caused the COVID-19 disease defied geographical boundaries, spreading faster than the measures to contain its transmission. The processing of personal health-related data became widespread as a measure to respond to the pandemic. This triggered new concerns about the possibility of there being a data crisis. Individuals suspected to be infected by COVID-19 were forced to undertake mandatory testing that involved the collection of health-related data. To limit the spread of the disease, the collection of personal data extended to secondary contacts. Personal health-related data are very prone to abuse, and this data included secondary data inconsistent with initial collection purposes. Admittedly, such risks are not new. Prior to the pandemic, health-related data were processed through electronic health (e-health) platforms. The health-related data processing methods during the pandemic were insufficient to meet the data protection principles of consent, transparency, purpose and storage, potentially violating the right to privacy. Globally, expectations are that countries should have data protection laws informed by established principles regulating the processing of personal data. While, Zimbabwe had not enacted the Cyber and Data Protection Act (CDP Act), which lists some of the data principles, this paper relies on existing laws to determine whether Zimbabwe is still abiding by constitutional and international human rights standards in protecting personal data privacy. The paper examines the development of data principles and their application in Zimbabwe in respect of health-related data protection during the pandemic. The paper 1) analyses the existing laws and their protection of personal health-related data; 2) explores the incorporation of data principles in COVID-19-related responses including in national laws as informed by international laws; and 3) highlights the gaps in both law and practice as they relate to the handling of personal health-related data in Zimbabwe during the pandemic. The paper concludes that even if the existing laws on data privacy were not comprehensive and even if the CDP Act came too late, the global regulations, the sectoral laws and other guidance accessible to Zimbabwe in responding to the pandemic would have sufficed to avert a data pandemic during the health pandemic and allowed Zimbabwe to be compliant with international data protection standards.

This paper is grounded in the right to education, guaranteed to every child, whether stateless or undocumented. Being stateless means that the child is not considered to be a national by any State under the operation of its law and when a child is undocumented it means that they have no government-issued proof of identity. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 provides the right to education for all children, regardless of their nationality. However, whether stateless or undocumented, they encounter impediments when they attempt to exercise their right to education. The study questions whether the South African Government is complying with its constitutional and international legal obligations to provide the right to education to all children. The paper contends that it is not sufficient to state that every child has the right to education, and that there is a need to formulate guidelines and procedures to be followed in cases where children are undocumented or stateless. In addition, the paper analyses the relevant education laws and policies together with the immigration laws and the effects they have on one another. It further addresses how the provisions of immigration law related to education impede undocumented and stateless children from accessing the right to education. Accordingly, the study identifies the gaps in the laws regulating the right to education and their implications when stateless and undocumented children seek to exercise the right to education. This paper recommends that the South African Government adapts its education laws and procedures in ways that consider the circumstances of stateless and undocumented children.

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a serious human rights violation whose resilience against comprehensive laws calls for a reappraisal of the interplay of the key factors that influence its persistence. What is the link between the resilience of GBV and socio-economic forces such as religion, culture and tradition? This paper is inspired by the death of a popular Nigerian gospel singer, Mrs Osinachi Nwachukwu, on 8 April 2022. Although the real cause of her death was not confirmed through an official autopsy, there was widespread speculation that her death arose from intimate partner violence (IPV). It sparked a heated debate among Nigerians, especially the Christian community, on the issue of GBV, especially the role of religious authorities in combatting IPV. Her death also raised concerns about the institution of marriage, bridewealth, women's marginalisation, and the role of the law. Using a literature review and drawing from the best legislative and institutional practices from Kenya, South Africa, and Rwanda, this paper highlights challenges in the legal framework and its implementation, as well as harmful norms and religious beliefs that prompt and perpetuate IPV in Nigeria.

This paper joins the growing discourse in search of a responsive governance model for state-owned companies (SOCs) in South Africa capable of engendering corporate governance and financial viability. The Singaporean state-holding company model of the ownership and control of SOCs’ (Temasek model), which is driven by Temasek Holdings is widely considered to be the gold standard of corporate governance and financial viability across the SOCs landscape. Policymakers and scholars alike have proposed the adoption of this model in South Africa, however, the proposals have fallen short of critically examining the model’s salient attributes, the legal and regulatory environment within which the model operates, as well as the socio-political and economic logic of the model to test its viability in the South African context. This paper closes this gap by advancing a four-pronged examination of the model. First, the paper provides a nuanced understanding of the nature of the so-called ‘Singapore Inc’. Secondly, it delves deeper into the model's anchoring legal and regulatory framework. Penultimately, the promise and pitfalls of the mode are identified. In conclusion, the paper argues that the Temasek model is exceptional in many respects and that its exceptionalism necessitates a cautious and nuanced adoption that considers the idiosyncratic circumstances of South Africa. In this regard, the paper proposes an adaptation of the Temasek model and argues that the model can apply only to SOCs with commercial orientation. The paper proposes a super-agency akin to the Chinese State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) for non-commercial entities to discharge centralised ownership and control functions. In essence, the paper argues that a viable model of ownership and control for SOCs capable of engendering sound corporate governance and financial viability in South Africa’s SOCs is not a single entity model in the form of a state-holding company but rather a twin-track model with one track catering for commercial entities and another for non-commercial entities.

Abstract Money laundering and financial crimes pose a significant threat to the integrity and stability of South Africa’s financial system. This paper explores the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to detect and prevent money laundering in South African banking institutions. Through the implementation of big data technologies and data processing analytics, AI can enhance the detection and prevention of money laundering activities in South Africa’s banking sector. AI can be harnessed to improve the detection of suspicious activities, enhance accuracy of financial intelligence and adapt to evolving money laundering techniques. The paper also examines the benefits and challenges of implementing AI as an anti-money laundering (AML) measure in the South African banking sector. These include the need for quality data, integration with existing systems, regulatory compliance and ethical considerations. The paper further highlights the potential of AI in transaction monitoring, customer due diligence, outcomes-based risk assessment, and improved detection of suspicious transactions by analysing how AI can enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of AML measures. The importance of coordination between banking institutions, regulatory authorities and law enforcement bodies is also highlighted as an important component of leveraging AI to combat money laundering and related financial crimes in South Africa’s banking sector.

Bredenkamp v Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd (SCA) and subsequent cases that followed this precedent exhibit that banks have the right to terminate the bank-customer relationship unilaterally. This right is usually entrenched in the contract between the bank and its customer and may also have its origin in an implied term of the contract. Some major banks in the Republic of South Africa have recently been under the spotlight for unilaterally terminating the bank-customer relationship with their customers (the Sekunjalo Group) based on reputational risks. It is alleged that in terminating the relationship, these banks unfairly discriminated against Sekunjalo Group, therefore asserting that the principle of reputational risk is not attributed similarly across customers of different racial groups. Whereas the paper does not intend to decide on such allegations of racial discrimination, the paper asserts that the unilateral termination of a bank-customer relationship is both a right and an obligation. The paper adopts a qualitative research approach in analysing the contractual nature of a bank-customer relationship, the common-law principles regarding the termination of the bank-customer relationship, and the developments in the application of the principle of reputational risk by South African banks and courts in the wake of the applications lodged by members of the Sekunjalo Group.

This paper explores the international humanitarian law classification which applies to foreign fighters that have been enlisted in the Ukrainian International Legion of Territorial Defence pursuant to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The paper explains the legal rights, obligations and consequences which attach to mercenary, combatant and prisoner of war status; and explores how these foreign members of the Ukrainian International Legion of Territorial Defence fit into this legal landscape. This paper challenges the legality of Russia's decision to classify these individuals as mercenaries. The paper supports the argument that these foreign members of the Ukrainian International Legion of Territorial Defence are entitled to combatant status including full combatant immunity from prosecution upon capture. The paper explores the prisoner of war rights and protections which these individuals should be afforded upon capture and details their denial. The paper re-iterates the international humanitarian law fair trial guarantees which are activated when combatants fall into enemy hands and questions the procedural legality of the trials being conducted in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Russia.

Since the fall of 2016, Anglophone Cameroon has endured the scorching stench of an internal political conflict between security forces and separatist militia groups, in which numerous human rights violations have been committed. Given the magnitude of these violations, they have been categorised as serious crimes in international law (crimes against humanity). While international law urges the prosecution of perpetrators, this paper, acknowledging the rule of law as a relevant tool in transforming and shaping societies, nonetheless opines that in post-conflict scenarios, the responses of states are not always influenced by the rule of law, as they sometimes involve factors that have no legal bearing or backing. These responses have been recognised generally to constitute components of transitional justice. This paper thus views transitional justice as comprising all the measures which states usually turn to in search of ways to respond to past atrocities, whether legal, non-legal or a combination thereof. This paper argues that the situation in Anglophone Cameroon has reached unprecedented levels of violence and given the degree of victimisation and mayhem caused to society, there is a need for transitional justice, in order to give closure to victims and restore stability. To suggest the form such transitional justice may take, the paper uses a comparative methodological approach in examining the transitional justice perspectives of South Africa and Rwanda, to assess what lessons could be drawn from them in respect of how they dealt with their legacies of past abuses. The paper recommends the establishment of an Anglophone Cameroon Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (ACTJRC).

This paper draws on the concurring judgment of Froneman J in Agri SA to articulate a "new and fresh approach" to the power to expropriate and duty to compensate in section 25 of the Constitution. In Agri SA, the Constitutional Court had to consider whether the provisions in the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002 (MPRDA) expropriated property and, if so, what form of compensation was required as a result. The answers that Froneman J provides, rooted in his conception of "compensation in kind", offer a framework to enable rational, purposive and wide-ranging transformation of property through legislation. Work, though, is needed to clarify the structure and implications of his approach. This paper provides that clarity. After an introduction, Part 2 unpacks the transformative, i.e., radical, nature of the change effected by the MPRDA, distinguishing it from reform. Armed with this distinction, it is argued that Froneman J's concepts of expropriation and compensation are rooted in a practical concern for: (a) the good and bad forms of being that Parliament wanted to facilitate and frustrate by way of the MPRDA; (b) the relations constitutive of these forms; and (c) the property that is needed to facilitate or frustrate the relations and forms. Part 3 clarifies the nature of Froneman's approach, by focusing on s 25(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, demonstrating that the factors it lists are concerned with maximally facilitating old and new goods, whilst always conscious of the fact that transformation by nature cannot avoid the need to sacrifice some goods for the sake of others. Part 4 offers some concluding thoughts.

The law governing marriage in South Africa is in transition. There are currently two proposals to reform the proprietary consequences of marriages in South Africa, namely a Marriage Bill [B43-2023], and a South African Law Reform Commission Discussion Paper to review aspects of matrimonial property law. This article assesses the effectiveness of the proposed reform in addressing the current regulatory challenges related to the proprietary consequences of customary marriages. It argues that the piecemeal jurisprudential development of the law has not been effectively reconciled, and this must be addressed in any future reform. However, the Marriage Bill proposed by the Department of Home Affairs is not an answer. The Bill ignores customary notions of property and creates several conceptual difficulties such as potentially leaving customary law marriages without a matrimonial proprietary regime. The South African Law Reform's Discussion Paper, which reviews aspects of matrimonial property law, holds great promise because it proposes a change in the default matrimonial proprietary system and the exclusion of family property from the marital estate. The proposals must be reconciled and informed by living customary law practices to deliver the much-anticipated law reform.

Most known investor-state disputes are referred to a form of international arbitration known as investor-state arbitration (ISA) or investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). The rest are referred to domestic arbitration or litigation before the courts of host states. The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is the largest ISDS institution, having handled 829 out of 1190 cases by December 2021. However, in recent years the ISDS regime has faced challenges that have reached crisis proportions. States have responded to these challenges in different ways. For example, during 2014 the European Union (EU) intended to provide for ISDS in its anticipated trade agreements with the United States of America and Canada. In preparation the EU held public consultations wherein the public was invited to comment on whether ISDS could be used in these agreements. Over 90 per cent of the voters rejected the inclusion of ISDS therein. In response the EU abandoned ISDS and created a bilateral Investment Court System (ICS). The final death knell for ISDS in the EU came in 2018 and 2021 when the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that ISDS among EU states is unlawful and incompatible with its legal order. This paper aims to assess the legal nature of the ICS, as well as whether the ICS can resolve the challenges that face ISDS worldwide. The paper concludes that firstly, the ICS is a hybrid of a court and a tribunal; secondly, that the ICS fails to fully address all the challenges faced by ISDS. It is a work in progress that must be interrogated further and be improved upon over time.

The South African government is navigating many basic municipal service delivery challenges, including a growing electricity supply deficit. Eskom Holdings SOC Limited, the state-owned power utility, is struggling to generate and supply a stable and uninterrupted flow of electricity through its grid system. The inadequate generation capacity results in rotating power outages, known as loadshedding, which occur when demand surpasses generating capability. This fundamental service delivery challenge, in conjunction with South Africa's climate change responses, including the decision to work towards energy efficiency, renewable energy and cleaner energy or a "just transition" from coal to clean energy, encourages many South Africans who have the necessary means to invest in off-grid energy solutions that operate alongside and at times independently of Eskom's grid. This paper considers from a legal perspective how and to what extent legislation on electricity supply and municipal by-laws empower household consumers to fulfil their right to electricity by going off-grid. The paper ultimately considers the import of this on South Africa's energy governance framework for electricity provision in the country.

South Africa's controlled foreign company ("CFC") rules were enacted more than two decades ago before most of today's business models existed. These are anti-avoidance rules that ensure the South African taxation of profits diverted offshore by South African residents. In terms of the CFC rules, the profits of a non-resident company may also be subject to tax in South Africa at the hands of its South African resident shareholder if such non-resident company is considered to be a CFC. Advances in technology developments and the use of information communication and technology ("ICT") have given rise to what is referred to as the digital economy. The term refers to economic activities hinged on the use of ICT and the internet. Digitalisation has made it possible for a business to carry on economic activity without the need for a multitude of offices, staff, equipment, and other resources. As a result, new business models like Uber and Shien have emerged. This paper argues that the current South African CFC rules have not kept pace with these new business models and do not effectively regulate the new business models and the digital economy. This paper recommends that the CFC rules be updated to address the digital economy and new business models by amending the rules, incorporating the provisions of Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 into the rules, using country-by-country reporting, and even considering implementing a regime alternative to CFC rules.

Article 43 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child mandates state parties to report on their efforts made towards implementing treaty provisions to the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC). The aim of this process is to afford states an opportunity to internally assess their progress and to grant the ACERWC an opportunity to guide states in the implementation of the treaty provisions through constructive dialogue during the state reporting process and through concluding observations which states are required to implement. While much has been written about the value of the state reporting process, not much has been said about the measures taken by states to implement the concluding observations from the state reporting process. The concluding observations offer a premise on which to advance a discourse on state implementation of the regional norms, given that they emanate from an incisive reflection of state parties' reports by the ACERWC. This paper finds that while the ratification of the African Children's Charter by the countries under consideration has led to normative and institutional changes in these countries, there are pertinent challenges that need to be addressed in the realisation of children's rights in Africa. Through the concluding observations, this paper examines the domestic implementation of children's rights in four African countries, namely: Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt.

The purpose of this paper is to critically analyse from a theoretical perspective the compatibility of the African Union's (AU's) self-financing mechanism (SFM) with the rules and regulations of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) principle, which forms an integral part of the anti-discrimination provisions. The AU consists of 55 African countries, most of them members of the WTO. The SFM agreed is in the form of a 0.2 per cent levy applied to all eligible goods imported from a non-AU member state into the territory of an AU member state. As most of the AU member states (AUMSs) are WTO members, they must adhere to all the rules and regulations of the WTO. It is against this backdrop that this paper analyses the AU SFM against the relevant WTO rules and regulations. Most importantly this paper will provide recommendations for the compatibility of the AUs SFM in terms of the existing WTO rules and principles, such as the operation of the Differential and More Favourable Treatment, Reciprocity and Fuller Participation of Developing Countries, more commonly referred to as the Enabling Clause, given the WTOs general classification of all African countries as developing or least developed countries. The need for the AU to be self-sustainable financially in order for it to achieve its goals and objectives has most recently been reinforced.by the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic both locally and internationally.

Legal aid is needed in South Africa as one mechanism for poor South Africans to realise their legal rights and to use the law as a vehicle for positive social change in a grossly unequal society in which deep poverty is rife. However, simply having a legal aid service provider is insufficient if the quality of such services is not satisfactory. But how can high quality legal services be ensured? This paper considers how different forms of legal aid service provision can be effectively monitored and assessed to ensure that satisfactory standards of legal aid work are delivered. Categories of "legal aid" (broadly construed) which are considered are legal NGOs, including university law clinics, the state's Legal Aid South Africa telephonic advice, and pro bono work by private lawyers. Separate research has focussed on the need for much improved coordination between legal service providers to promote co-operation among legal aid services. The next step is to ensure that such coordination leads to quality services and promoting quality control mechanisms which are appropriate and which can be considered best practice. This paper analyses and discusses this next step. If legal aid is not of an adequate standard or quality assurance is not in place, the legal aid is not serving a positive function. The paper considers viable means for vetting the quality of these free legal services in a South African context, including telephonic legal advice in the Covid era. It suggests mechanisms to promote high-level free legal service provision by assessing the quality of such services. Legal aid quality control methods abroad were analysed to serve as an indicator of the options used in this regard in those jurisdictions. The question to be answered is what quality control measures are most apposite in the South African legal aid arena.

This paper explores the application and potential of financial crime risk indicators in the international banking and mercantile transactions. Special emphasis is placed on lists of financial crime risk indicators which are circulated, or have been drafted, by governments and public institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper investigates, inter alia, whether such financial crime risk indicator lists created by African institutions differ noticeably – regarding content, drafting style, and availability – from other well-established indicator lists, and whether African financial crime risk indicator lists appropriately represent African commercial realities and thus meaningfully contribute to fighting financial crime on the continent and beyond.

There is a growing standard for the protection of migrants on the global and regional scene. As refugees, children from areas of armed conflict form a vulnerable group that requires close attention. With an emphasis on the right to education, this contribution interrogates the sufficiency of Kenya's legal regime in offering practical safeguards to refugee children as victims of human rights abuses in the host state. First, this study evaluates the position of international and regional law on the protection of refugee children. Secondly, it evaluates Kenya's legislative and policy regime as well as its practices with regard to the education of refugee children. Proposals for reform are made in concluding the paper.

The special edition consists of eight (8) papers from a special research project and symposium, conceptualised, organised and led by the Editor (who is a member of the Department of Mercantile and Labour Law at the University of the Western Cape) between 29 and 31 September 2021. This project was undertaken in partnership with the Afrikan Peer Growth Network NPC, a non-profit company co-founded by the Editor for the purpose of promoting autochthonous or endogenous African scholarship. The theme of the symposium "Towards Afrikan-centred participatory knowledge production" echoes the dream expressed in the title of this editorial, which seeks to accelerate endogenous knowledge production on the African continent. This editorial will answer two related questions. The first is: does accelerating or promoting autochthoneity and endogeneity in knowledge production in Africa matter, and if so, why and how does it matter? The second is related to the first, and the question is: in what ways do the contributions to legal research in this special edition help to advance the agenda of enhancing endogenous and decolonised scholarship and knowledge production on the African continent?

Although Zimbabwe has established several institutions to combat money laundering and related crimes, there is a perception that inadequate measures are taken to apprehend offenders responsible for financial crimes. Institutions such as the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) have done little to prove that the government of Zimbabwe is resolute in combatting money laundering. On the contrary, it increasingly appears that these institutions are poorly equipped and lack the necessary capacity to enforce and uphold anti-money laundering (AML) measures in Zimbabwe. Further, there appears to be a selective application of the law, with one set of rules for individuals or institutions that are perceived as political adversaries of the incumbent establishment and a different set of rules for the political elite. Consequently, the selective application of the law projects Zimbabwe as a jurisdiction that is somehow tolerant to money laundering, corruption and related financial crimes, thereby lowering and tarnishing the standing of the country in the global economic community of nations. This paper provides a regulatory analysis of the AML role-players in Zimbabwe in order to assess their functions in combatting financial crimes. It also analyses whether these role-players are effective and substantively executing their responsibilities therein. The authors argue that while Zimbabwe is well able to effectively combat money laundering through the even application of the law to all persons regardless of their political or economic standing, it is imperative that its AML institutions operate without fear, favour or prejudice. This is crucial in combatting money laundering and instilling confidence in the general public's perception of AML institutions in Zimbabwe.

The South African government introduced a strict lockdown and related legislation in reaction to the COVID-19 epidemic. During lockdown, the movement of children between co-holders of parental rights and responsibilities of a caregiver, as defined in section 1(1) of the Children's Act 38 of 2005, was prohibited. The movement of persons was only permitted in essential cases, leading to children being "stuck" with one co-holder or even a person with no parental responsibilities and rights. A court order was to be obtained for permission for a child to travel, proving that this was urgent and essential. The lockdown regulations on the movement of children covered only those in a formal arrangement and excluded co-parents without court orders and those in the process of divorce. The closure of schools for approximately three months resulted in a significant increase in inter-parental disputes. These conflicts primarily revolved around the regulations stipulating that children could only be relocated to households free from Covid-19. The regulations completely ignored the child's emotional needs and were so out of line with other countries in similar circumstances. The regulations were also contrary to the Constitution and Children's Act, which underscore that the best interests of the child are paramount in all matters involving the child as it was not in the child's interests to be with a particular parent or without a particular parent during the lockdown period. This paper aims to identify the issues and effects of co-parenting during the lockdown and present a critique on the circumstances. It is argued that the one-size-fits-all approach introduced by the lockdown regulations was not the most appropriate, as the determining criteria should have been based on what would be best in the child's interest, which should, therefore, be assessed based on a case-by-case analysis.

In South Africa, two principles apply to the exclusion of certain assets from an insolvent estate. First is the common-law principle that even the desperate insolvent is entitled to the basic necessities of life. Hence his entitlement to keep certain assets and to protect assets belonging to third parties. Secondly, the "creditor advantage" principle requires the trustee of the insolvent estate to collect assets to benefit the creditors of the estate. One of the assets excluded from the insolvent estate is the life and disability insurance policy benefits of the insolvent. These benefits are excluded, however, only if the beneficiary is the insolvent and the exclusion will not apply where the beneficiary is a third party such as a solvent spouse. However, section 21 of the Insolvency Act 24 of 1936 vests the assets of the solvent spouse in the trustee of the insolvent estate upon the latter's sequestration. This vesting is out of sync with the principle aimed at protecting assets belonging to third parties. In England and Wales a trust is created to protect the insurance policy benefits of a spouse or child of the bankrupt but does not extend to any other third party. In the United States of America the proceeds of a life insurance policy benefit will form part of the estate if the bankrupt owned it before the bankruptcy began or if the debtor acquired or became entitled to it within 180 days after the filing date. Where the debtor nominated a third party as the beneficiary of an unmatured policy, the power of appointment becomes part of the estate of the debtor. As the nominated third party acquires only an inchoate expectation, the third party's expectation of that unmatured life insurance policy benefit forms part of the bankrupt estate. This paper compares the treatment of life and disability insurance benefits in insolvent estates in South Africa with the position in England and Wales and the United States of America to establish whether there are lessons to be learnt which may assist in modelling an insolvency law process for South Africa which will consider the affected members of society.

The prosecution of perpetrators of mass violations of human rights remains one of the unfinished tasks of Africa's ʺdemocraciesʺ which, in itself, is eloquent evidence of the need for systemic arrangements to protect human rights, build a culture of the rule of law and ultimately defeat impunity. Emboldened by the absence of the foregoing, accountability for human rights violations of individuals and the fulfilment of the corresponding duty to prosecute violators have been contentious issues in Africa's politically volatile communities. As states are caught betwixt and between protecting human rights and holding individuals accountable, the questions about the State's fulfilment of its international obligations arises. Sourced primarily from international treaties, customary international law, and general principles of law, the duty to prosecute violations of human rights is revisited with a focus on the theoretical and legal framework. Situated in the context of the ongoing Anglophone Cameroon crisis in which political factions of the English-speaking regions are pitted against the French-speaking dominated Government of Cameroon, and bringing to the fore the violations, which have become an odious scourge, this paper argues that there is a sacrosanct duty on the Government of Cameroon to investigate, prosecute and punish such violations. The paper interrogates the relevant international law instruments and engages in a dialogue with relevant and respectable literature penned by prominent scholars and jurists on the issue of accountability. It provides an analytical disquisition on the duty to prosecute which, as argued herein, must be fulfilled by Cameroon given the violations that have been committed during the ongoing Anglophone Cameroon crisis.

In 2014 the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC) released a Discussion Paper on the practice of ukuthwala. The Discussion paper was revised and released again in 2015 to include public consultations and the proposed Prohibition of Forced Marriages and Child Marriages Bill (Prohibition Bill). The Prohibition Bill introduces an expanded crime of forced marriages and child marriages, including because of ukuthwala. In view of the SALRC's proposed Prohibition Bill, this paper investigates whether South Africa should criminalise ukuthwala or not. The paper also examines the advantages and disadvantages of criminalising breaches of ukuthwala in the protection of women and girls affected by the practice by drawing upon the field research findings from the community where the S v Jezile 2015 2 SACR 452 (WCC) case originated. Among other findings, the field research show that the practice of ukuthwala is deeply rooted in the communities where it is still prevalent to the extent that the approach taken by the Prohibition Bill, expecting the victims to report their own parents or family members to law enforcement agents, might force the practice to go underground. Ultimately, we suspect that this might make it more difficult to protect women and children's rights violations associated with ukuthwala. We therefore recommend that to effectively address the malpractices surrounding ukuthwala, the process of law reform look at the elements of ukuthwala, the procedure that is followed, appreciate the cultural significance of the practice, as well as understand the merits and demerits of the customary delictual claims that are already used by communities where processes of the practice have been breached. In this way, communities will be more receptive to any government's efforts that are aimed at addressing forced and child marriages linked to ukuthwala. In addition, we submit that unless government prioritises awareness campaigns into the communities that are going to be affected by the proposed law reform, such law, will again be what Himonga calls "paper law".

Law enforcement personnel are critically important in both the security and criminal justice sectors. Unlike ordinary citizens, they possess the broad powers needed to perform the tasks in these sectors: for example, they possess the power to arrest and detain; to search premises and seize items; to interrogate individuals; to stop assemblies; to check and even to restrict the movements of people during certain times; and to use force and firearms in specific circumstances. In exercising such powers, they are required to act independently and judiciously. Also, they must stay within the remit of the law. Such powers, however, render them prone to committing human rights abuses since by their very nature, they interfere with the civil and political rights of individuals. In instances of violations they are expected to be held accountable. Accountability for law enforcement for human rights violations evokes and entails the notions of lawfulness and legitimacy. As legitimacy touches on the public perception of law enforcement personnel, it becomes vital to explore what mechanisms are put in place to ensure accountability as well as possible challenges that hamper it. Examining the notion of the accountability of law enforcement personnel in the context of Cameroon, this paper argues that selective accountability has been the trend which puts the country at quite a distance from its international human rights obligations. Informed by empirical evidence from credible governmental bodies, the paper identifies and assesses the legal framework on accountability, touching on a few instances of selective accountability, and argues that if lawfulness and legitimacy are to be the cornerstones of accountability, then a comprehensive approach must be considered, including the de-politicisation of law enforcement units in Cameroon.

One of the most modern inventions of financial technology (FinTech) since after the global financial crisis of 2008 is the crypto or virtual currency/asset. Since the creation of the first cryptocurrency, the Bitcoin, in 2009, it is estimated that over five thousand variants of the Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have emerged. Virtual currencies have become widespread across the globe but their legal status and uses in various countries have remained uncertain. They have been variously classified as currencies, securities, properties, assets, commodities and tokens, and used as means of exchange but are not legally recognised as legal tender. In many jurisdictions their emergence was greeted with scepticism and express or tacit rejection by financial and securities markets regulators, but over time, owing to their increasing popularity, characteristics, positive and negative potentials, there has been a gradual shift towards their formal recognition and regulation. Regulatory authorities in many countries are now grappling with designing appropriate policy and regulatory framework for the crypto phenomenon. This paper interrogates the current legal status and efforts to regulate cryptocurrencies in two leading African nations, Nigeria and South Africa, and highlights the challenges of designing an appropriate regulatory framework for this enigmatic technology. The paper adopts the doctrinal legal research methodology, employing the descriptive, analytical, and comparative approaches. It follows a structured review and analysis of relevant extant legislation on currencies and securities in the countries to ascertain whether they cover cryptocurrencies. It then compares the current position of the law on the subject in the two countries. Bearing in mind that it may not be possible to totally ban dealing in cryptocurrencies, the paper concludes that regulation has become imperative. Drawing from the position on the subject in more developed nations, the United States of America (US) and the European Union (EU), this paper proposes a model of regulation of virtual currency not only for Nigeria and South Africa but also for other African countries.

The rules that govern succession to the office of King in Lesotho are largely customary. The Constitution of Lesotho, 1993 provides that succession to the office of King shall be regulated in terms of customary law; the Constitution itself does not provide for the substantive and procedural rules governing succession. The zenith of customary rules is that succession to kingship in Lesotho is based on the principle of primogeniture. The primogeniture rule has always presented problems of application in Lesotho; more so in the era of equality and democracy. This paper critiques the rules of succession to the office of King. It contends that by leaving the regulation of succession exclusively to customary law without clear articulation in the Constitution, the Constitution is unduly yielding to a system of law (customary law) which is not only subservient to the Constitution but also based on a different set of values. The paper recommends that the rules of succession must be codified in the Constitution and must be realigned with contemporary notions of constitutionalism and equality.

Legal scholars and other social scientists agree that political violence comprising assaults on civil and political liberties may occur in the context of contentious politics. Unfortunately, there have been instances in history where such politics is marked by intermittent attacks against people's rights and freedoms. Such attacks occur when politics has gone sour, and there are times when the violence exceeds the bounds of what is acceptable. From the documented atrocities of Nazi Germany, the horrendous crimes of the regime of Slobodan Milosevic in the former Yugoslavia, the outrageous crimes perpetrated during the genocide in Rwanda, the shameful and despicable inhumanities inflicted on the people of Darfur in the Sudan, and the violence in post-electoral Kenya, to the bloodshed in areas like Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, etc, violent conflict has punctuated world history. Added to this list of countries is Cameroon, which in the last quarter of 2016 degenerated into a hotspot of political violence in the English-speaking regions. The perpetration of political violence in Cameroon has raised serious questions that may be relevant not only to the resolution of the political problem that gave rise to the violence but also to laying the foundations of a post-conflict Cameroon that is united and honours the principles of truth, justice and reconciliation. This paper describes some of the salient occurrences of political violence in Cameroon and argues that the presence of specific elements elevates this violence to the level of a serious crime in international law. It is argued herein that crimes against humanity may have been committed during the state action against the Anglophones in Cameroon. It is also argued that the political character of the violence, added to the scale of the victimisation and its systematic and protracted nature, qualify Cameroon as a transitional society engaged in conflict that is in need of transitional justice. Reflecting on the extent of the suffering of the victims of such political violence, this paper discusses the function of the justice system in establishing the truth and holding the perpetrators accountable. Past instances of political violence in Cameroon have been glossed over, but in our opinion, healing a fragmented and disunited Cameroon with its history of grave violations of human rights requires that the perpetrators be held accountable, and that truth and justice should prevail. Such considerations should be factored into the legal and political architecture of a post-conflict, transitional Cameroon.

The active participation of Black South African women in the corporate sector is essential for the achievement of equity and diversity. Since 1994 the sector has failed to promote black women into managerial positions despite the existence of the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 that requires the equitable representation of previously disadvantaged groups on all occupational levels. Conversely, the managerial positions in the South African corporate sector continue to be dominated by white males and little effort is being made to achieve equity. The paucity of black women persists in the corporate sector during a period in which South Africa, like many other countries, is preparing itself for the fourth industrial revolution, which has broad implications for the sector. Black women are under-represented in the emerging technological environment in South Africa, and this imbalance is further perpetuating the exclusion of black women from managerial positions. This paper argues that the emerging technological environment presents an opportunity for the corporate sector to reflect on the training needs of Black women and prioritise technology in its quest to achieve equity. An increase in the number of black women with technological skills would enhance their prospects of occupying meaningful managerial roles. The corporate sector in South Africa is expected to comply with progressive statutory interventions and policies to advance women in the emerging technological environment who have the right qualifications, experience, and competency to fill the managerial positions from which they were previously excluded. In this paper we examine and analyse the challenges which are hampering the progression of black women into managerial echelons in post-1994 democratic South Africa. In order to present an objective and balanced view, we also present the strides being taken by some corporates (very few of them) to address the problem of the obstacles to the advancement of Black South African women to managerial positions.

Although the accounting definition of assets contemplates intangible, abstract assets such as those embodied in intellectual property (IP), South African company law largely views IP as a legal and not a business asset. This paper tentatively suggests an approach that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to mitigate weaknesses in the South African patent law relating to the absence of patent searches and examinations. It is hoped that using AI will enable the filing of quality patents that satisfy the prescribed patentability criteria. High-quality patents will allow companies to accumulate patents as corporate assets. The approach is based on the algorithmic use of AI technologies such as machine learning, natural language processing, deep learning alongside the Internet of Things, and IP analytics to strengthen South Africa’s IP system and create asset value for corporations. The paper recommends using the proposed AI technologies by companies and the Patents Office to enable the filing of high-quality patents, which will lead to the accumulation of corporate assets in the form of patents. The methodology is doctrinal, and the paper relies on recent literature on IP and AI, South African law, case law and examples drawn from studies conducted in other countries.

This paper discusses the challenge of the misappropriation of retirement fund assets by trustees, fund asset managers and retirement funds’ administrators. It demonstrates that retirement fund members lose substantial retirement benefits due to the illegal and unlawful conduct of those who manage and administer retirement funds. It evaluates whether the South African legislative framework offers retirement funds and their members adequate protection from activities that may compromise the delivery of the pension promise such as: mismanagement; fraudulent activities; gross negligence; and the outright looting of retirement fund assets. In particular, this paper illustrates that the law in South Africa does not deter would-be wrongdoers from acting in a manner that may compromise the benefits expected by retirement fund members when they exit their funds. It advocates the adoption of adequate preventative legislative measures that would make it difficult for anyone to act in a manner that would compromise retirement fund members' benefits in South Africa.

The environmental right, as provided in section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Constitution), read with section 7(2), places a positive duty upon all three government spheres to realise this right. This duty thus also befalls every municipality in the country. From time to time this right is adjudicated in the context of municipal governance. This note is premised on the judgment handed down in the case South African Human Rights Commission v Msunduzi Local Municipality (8407/2020P) [2021] ZAKZPHC 35 (17 June 2021). In this case the court found the Msunduzi Local Municipality to have breached section 24 of the Constitution and related legislative provisions. In addition to the declaratory order granted against the Msunduzi Local Municipality, the court further ordered a structural interdict as a way to enforce compliance on the part of the Municipality. Against this backdrop this paper examines the use of a structural interdict as a remedy to achieve judicial enforcement when municipalities breach constitutional and statutory environmental law. The meaning and relevance of the structural interdict in relation to local government are discussed with reference to the South African judiciary's historical application of structural relief in some of the most prominent socio-economic rights cases.

Our understanding of contracts continues to evolve. Electronic contracts that have typically taken the form of shrink-wrap, click-wrap, web-wrap, scroll-wrap, multi-wrap and sign-in-wrap agreements have undergone further developments with the introduction of automation in electronic contractual engagements and, more recently, the advent of the so-called "smart contract". Different types of smart contracts exist, including smart contracts that operate on blockchain technology. Despite these developments in commercial and contractual activities, the South African legal framework does not officially recognise smart contracts. The use of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (ECTA) as a mechanism for the regulatory oversight of smart contracts in South Africa is, in its current form, woefully inadequate and limited in its application to smart contracts. Other jurisdictions, like the European Union (EU), have passed draft legislative and regulatory documentation called the Data Act to address smart contracts, whilst the UK Law Commission has provided recommendations to regulate smart contracts. As South Africa currently has no equivalent to the EU's draft Data Act and has not considered the operation of smart contracts in South Africa, the position in the EU and United Kingdom (UK) is considered in this paper to provide guidelines as to the aspects that it would be necessary to regulate in a South African context.

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and other financial role players such as the Prudential Authority (PA), the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), the National Credit Regulator (NCR), the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), the Financial Stability Oversight Committee (FSOC), the Financial Sector Contingency Forum (FSCF), the Financial Sector Council of Regulators (FSCR) and the Financial Sector Inter-Ministerial Council (FSIC) play a significant role in the protection and promotion of financial stability and market integrity in South Africa. The SARB has the primary financial stability mandate, whilst the FSCA was established to primarily promote market integrity and enhance market efficiency through protecting and promoting the fair treatment of financial customers and promoting financial literacy programs. As technology advances and new players enter the market, traditional financial institutions are faced with increased competition and the need to adapt and innovate to stay relevant. In this regard, regulatory frameworks and the functions of regulatory bodies should be constantly reviewed to conform to financial technology (fintech) developments and safeguard consumer interests. This article examines the roles and functions of the aforementioned financial role players as regulated by the Financial Sector Regulation Act (FSR Act) and other relevant financial sector laws. This is done to evaluate the effectiveness of their roles and functions to protect and promote financial stability and market integrity in line with fintech and Artificial Intelligence (AI) developments. The paper also evaluates the importance of cooperation and collaboration between the financial role players to fulfil their roles and functions.

With the growth of e-commerce transactions and people living their lives online, it is important for consumer disputes to be tailored in a manner that is suitable for consumers and their types of disputes. Currently South Africa is facing major delays in resolving consumer disputes, and consumers end up not pursuing their low-value claims as the current processes take a long time. Further, consumers do not have the funds to pay attorneys. The Consumer Protection Act encourages the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) before a consumer dispute can be referred to a court of law. However, such ADR processes are lengthy and do not provide consumers with affordable and efficient relief. The current ADR processes do not meet the expectations of the consumers; thus, this paper proposes an integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and Blockchain Technologies in resolving consumer disputes via online dispute resolution (ODR). Various forms of AI and blockchain technologies are explored. The concept of online dispute resolution is introduced and current examples of online dispute resolution systems like eBay, and countries that have already moved to online dispute resolution with the integration of AI, are used as exemplary models for a South African online dispute resolution powered by AI and blockchain technologies.

The purpose of the Competition Act 89 of 1998 as amended (the Competition Act) is, among others, to promote the efficiency, adaptability and development of the economy as well as to provide consumers with competitive prices and product choices. In line with this purpose, the Competition Act provides that a dominant firm is prohibited from engaging in price discrimination if such conduct will likely substantially prevent or lessen competition, which would be to the detriment of consumers. Notably the Competition Act has established various bodies to regulate competition and act against any conduct prohibited by this Act in South Africa. These bodies include the Competition Commission, the Competition Tribunal, and the Competition Appeal Court. Notwithstanding the prohibition of price discrimination, the Competition Act does not expressly provide adequate enforcement tools for competition authorities to combat uncompetitive practices in the digital era. Moreover, the Competition Act does not expressly grant these statutory bodies clear roles and mandates on providing consumers with adequate and suitable redress when they have been victims of algorithmic price discrimination. With recent technological developments, electronic commerce (e-commerce), and digital transformation, consumers have become vulnerable to various challenges such as excessive pricing, data breaches and algorithmic pricing. The online and digital markets are characterised by complex transactions, innovative technologies and business practices which expose all consumers, including vulnerable consumers, to different risks. As such, the role of the competition authorities needs to be recalibrated to enhance consumer protection on the pricing of goods and services. To this end this paper seeks to investigate the role and ambit of the powers of these competition authorities in the regulation of price discrimination in the context of digital transformation and the digital economy. This is done to assess whether the competition authorities have the necessary tools of enforcement to ensure that markets are competitive and to combat uncompetitive conduct in the digital economy and online markets.

Novel therapeutic strategies using genome editing technologies, such as CRISPR-Cas9, are revolutionising the way in which diseases can be prevented and treated in the future. Consequently, a global debate has emerged around the ethical and legal implications relating to the use of such technology in research, therapy, and human reproduction. This has brought to the forefront questions regarding the extent to which current policies respond to these issues. In this paper, we provide a “map” of South African policy relating to genome editing, and illustrate how current ethical guidelines and law regulate its use. We find that the South African policy framework is marred with inconsistencies and incompleteness, and that an opportunity exists for the normative and regulatory framework governing this field of research and therapeutic application in South Africa, to be reviewed and reformed. In this paper we present certain recommendations – with the goal of informing and supporting health policy and decision-making regarding the regulation of genome editing in South Africa. We suggest that by adopting a pragmatic regulatory approach, such recommendations serve to address public concern, reflect appropriate international perspectives, and provide a firm foundation for the development of genome editing regulation in South Africa.

The legal operation of liens has been the source of academic debates for many years. Liens are traditionally classified as enrichment liens and debtor-and-creditor liens (contractual liens). In the instance of an enrichment lien the creditor (lienholder) has a contract with a non-owner and not with the owner (debtor) himself. Consequently, the creditor can vest a lien against the owner of the thing only on the grounds of unjustified enrichment. Enrichment liens are classified as real rights. In the instance of a debtor-and-creditor lien (contractual lien) the creditor (lienholder) has a contract with the owner of the thing and the contract is the basis for the liability of the owner (debtor) towards the creditor. Debtor-and-creditor liens are generally classified as personal rights. This classification causes confusion regarding the legal operation on the one hand of an enrichment lien as a real right and on the other hand of a debtor-and-creditor lien (contractual lien) as a personal right. This paper proposes that the origin of the legal claim for which the lien serves as security (unjustified enrichment or contractual) merely determines the debt (expenses) for which a lienholder can vest his lien and does not determine the classification of a lien as either a real right or a personal right. A lien can be described as a defence against the owner's rei vindicatio and is, in principle, enforceable only against the owner of the thing (security object). A lien can, however, also be enforced against parties other than the owner, including the creditors (who, for example, want to attach the thing subject to the lien) of the owner (debtor) and other real claimants. The enforcement of a lien against these parties is referred to as the real operation (third-party action) of a lien. This paper analyses the legal operation of a lien with specific reference to the debt (expenses incurred) secured by the lien, the vesting (existence) of a lien, the real operation (third-party action) of a lien and the preferential position of a lienholder in the case of the debtor' insolvency.

Women's subordination is not new in the world. As society became human rights conscious, many countries started abrogating or scrapping discriminatory laws and attitudes towards women, in particular married women. However, it has taken Eswatini more than 100 years to deal with the fact that the common law principle of marital power discriminates against women. This paper traces the reception of marital power into the legal framework of Eswatini and how advocacy groups on women's rights and freedoms have opposed women's subordination, fortified by research. This paper presents a desktop review of selected literature and case laws touching on women's emancipation in Eswatini. This research work is significant in that it adds to the body of knowledge by recording the origins of women's subjection to marital power and their eventual emancipation in the landmark case of Sacolo v Sacolo (1403/2016) [2019] SZHC 166 (30 August 2019).

The 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights presents an opportunity for critical reflections from the Global South on why the dream of universalising the rights contained in this ground-breaking document is still just a dream. Shaped by a rigorous interrogation of African experiences as narrated by practitioners and scholars, this paper revisits some of the leading contentious issues which, undoubtedly, have impacted on the realisation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the African continent. The paper revisits the issue of meaning, and how uncertainties surrounding it have triggered controversial perceptions and constructions of the notion of human rights, aggravated by adjectival calibrations. Capturing the views of scholars and practitioners, this paper takes an evidence-based approach to the matter as it identifies and discusses some of the common, recurrent challenges that have compromised the aspiration of universalising the ideals articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These include, amongst other things, the impact of slavery and the slave trade, colonialism and neo-colonialism, the nature and impact of western hypocrisy, double-standards, bias and inconsistency – factors that not only dilute the recognition of human rights but further deepen the mistrust and misgivings Africans have about human rights. Lastly, the paper appraises the adverse impact of corruption on the realisation of human rights on the African continent. It is argued that all these factors, cumulatively, adversely impact on the perception and realisation of human rights on the African continent.

Access to justice for all in South Africa, as most clearly set out in sections 34 and 35 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, is necessary to realise various other fundamental rights and to improve living standards. There are insufficient free legal services available to the indigent in South Africa, especially in civil matters, thereby often making meaningful access to justice unattainable. This study considers possible approaches, challenges and opportunities for law graduate community service in South Africa (hereinafter "community service") to expand the ambit and impact of free legal services to the indigent. This would promote the constitutional imperative of access to justice, focussing on civil matters. This study concentrates on the access to justice potential of and challenges to such community service. Such challenges will be shown to include its proper utilisation and control through the adequate supervision of graduates. This paper argues that graduate community service has the capacity to promote better access to justice and hence that steps should be taken for its introduction in some form. Community service and means for law graduates to perform this as a necessary part of vocational training before entering the legal profession are provided for in section 29 of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 (LPA). But despite parts of the Act being operative, community service is neither in operation nor do regulations yet exist for its implementation. The specific vocational training element(s) for law graduates is worthy of separate study and is not the focus of this paper. Such a separate study would include opportunity creation - such as gaining the necessary practical experience and the establishment of employment opportunities - and training challenges for graduates during community service. In the pre-LPA era it would have been necessary to focus more on whether community service for law graduates should be included in legislation or not as part of graduates' vocational training and as a key component of free legal service delivery. Some such arguments are alluded to as community service has yet to be implemented and its implementation is not a fait accompli. But because it is now included in the LPA as a legal aid service delivery possibility, this study instead focusses on the need for the effective and appropriate implementation and operation of community service to turn the requirements and encouraging promise of the LPA on community service into reality. The paper explores issues such as the necessary and appropriate supervision and placement of law graduates completing community service. The research very briefly touches on whether community service would best be compulsory for graduates as part of their vocational training or merely one possible route towards admission to the legal profession. Lessons are sought for legal community service in South Africa from existing medical post-study community service schemes as to the role which such schemes have played in expanded service provision and impediments experienced in reaching such goals. These lessons are applied to proposals for the implementation and operation of law graduate community service. This study considers how community service could and should be a key component of a multi-faceted and co-ordinated approach to expand and improve free legal services for the indigent in civil matters in South Africa with its gross inequality, unemployment and poverty. For this goal to be realised, there must be mechanisms for its effective roll-out and operation.