Towards the end of February 2023, Vanuatu and 18 other States formally uploaded the final Draft Resolution requesting an advisory opinion on climate change from the International Court of Justice (ICJ). This draft resolution was officially adopted on the 29th of March. Dr. Tracey Kanhanga explains why it was important for African States to co-sponsor Vanuatu’s Draft Resolution and vote for its adoption as well as the potential impact that the advisory opinion will have in strengthening domestic climate change regulatory frameworks.

A “SLAPP” suit is strategic litigation against public participation and has its origin in the United States of America and Canada. Courtney Jones discusses the application of the SLAPP defence in South African law following the Constitutional Court’s judgment in Mineral Sands Resources (Pty) Ltd v Reddell.

Last year the United Kingdom engaged in talks with Rwanda over the two nations’ migration and economic development partnership ( Rwanda asylum plan ). In this article, Dr. D’orsi gives an overview of Rwanda’s position concerning the UK’s plan to deport some asylum seekers to its country. In addition, he assesses Rwanda’s asylum system to determine how safe it is for asylum seekers.

Last year, the South African Minister of Home Affairs, Dr. Aaron Motswaledi announced the termination of the Zimbabwean Special Permits (ZEPs) set to expire at the end of 2021. Thato Gaffane argues that this decision is a violation of the international principle of non-refoulment and also, fatally flawed in as far as it lacks consideration for section 33 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

Africa faces a variety of developmental woes that have resulted in various injustices, including environmental injustice. Stephen Morgan discusses the importance of recognising this injustice and makes a case for a reorientation of what we assume to be our moral responsibility towards the environment using indigenous African values and practices.

The agency problem arises when people in positions of authority fail to act in the best interests of the people they represent. To address this issue, it is necessary to ensure that decisions are not solely made by those in power. Ben Nyabira argues that solutions to this problem lie in public participation.

Over the past two years, the state of Swaziland has been plagued with various human rights violations, including state sponsored violence against the citizenry. In response, civilians have retaliated against members of the police force and the army. Against this background, Angelo Dube argues that the environment in Swaziland may be ripe for the Islamic State’s picking.

In Rafoneke v Minister of Justice and Correctional Services (Rafoneke), the SA Constitutional Court had to consider whether section 24 (2)(b) read with section 115 of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 (LPA) unfairly discriminated against foreign nationals on the basis of citizenship and social origin. Geoffrey Allsop and Ohene Yaw Ampofo-Anti argue that the court did not apply the principle of intersectionality correctly in its finding that these provisions are constitutional.

Climate change has created a children’s rights crisis which disproportionately affects children on the African continent. Bryony Fox discusses this issue and argues that it is time for a comprehensive children's rights approach to climate change impacts in Africa.

Corporations increasingly enjoy more rights but face fewer consequences for abusing rights. Erika George argues that a new approach is urgently needed and that constitutional courts should be more concerned with the concentrated power of the private sector and protecting the public space for effective policy making and adjudication.

In the course of digitalisation, economic and other activities are increasingly internationalising and their challenges can thus be less frequently addressed through state constitutions. Although there is no constitutional framework that would allow private power to be effectively constrained at the international level, Johannes Masing argues that a certain uniting basis of constitutionalism across borders may be found in human rights.

United Nations Special Rapporteur, Olivier De Schutter calls for an end to ‘povertyism’ - the discrimination & negative attitudes that bar people in poverty from fully accessing their rights and for states to include socio-economic status as a suspect ground in national anti-discrimination frameworks.

Bwanya v Master of the High Court was the first occasion on which the Constitutional Court expressly refused to follow one of its previous decisions. Joshua Davis considers the basis on which it did so and the implications for the doctrine of precedent, and argues that the judgment was ultimately right for the wrong reasons.

Climate change and the related crime of ecocide have increasingly been the focus of academic and public attention. As once stable weather patterns become more unpredictable and previously rare weather events become more common and more extreme, we are belatedly recognizing that the ecological destruction inflicted on the world around us poses a tremendous threat to not just the natural world, but to humanity as well.

Amita Dhanda, a plenary speaker at the World Congress of Constitutional Law reflects on the connection between the rights of liberty and subsistence in light of developments in Indian criminal law.