Research Articles (Office of the Dean: Law)

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    Universal human rights - asking for too much ?
    (University of Pretoria, 2010-10-27) University of Pretoria; De la Rey, Cheryl; Heyns, C.H. (Christof H.)
    Human rights, as a set of norms that is applicable to everyone, everywhere, has been described as 'the idea of our time'. An expert from the University of Pretoria, Prof Christof Heyns, will pose the question in this UP EXPERT LECTURE SERIES whether the current rapid proliferation of human rights systems especially at a regional level is fostering or hampering the universal human rights project. The lecture will place the above discussion in the broader context of whether - depending on one's starting point - human rights are being 'popularised' or 'banalised'.
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    Regional master's programmes in Africa : case studies and analysis
    (School of Human and Social Sciences, University of Venda, 2006) Heyns, C.H. (Christof H.)
    This paper explores the feasibility, role and practical implications of presenting regional residential masters programmes in Africa. The paper does so by focusing on three Master’s programmes based in Africa, which attract students from across the African continent – one in human rights law, one in the law of trade and investment and one in the economics of trade and investment. All three programmes are presented by networks of excellence linking African universities, in some cases also involving outside partners. The essential features of these programmes are described, as well as some of the lessons learned from the introduction of these programmes. It is concluded that such programmes have a significant role to play in Africa, also beyond the fields of human rights and trade.
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    Africa in international human rights textbooks
    (Edinburgh University Press, 2007-03) Heyns, C.H. (Christof H.); Killander, Magnus
    No abstract available
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    Constitutional human rights law in Africa : current developments
    (Juta Law, 2006) Heyns, C.H. (Christof H.); Kaguongo, Waruguru
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    African regional human rights system
    (University of Deusto, Bilboa, 2006) Gomez Isa, Felipe; De Feyter, Keon; Heyns, C.H. (Christof H.); Killander, Magnus
    This contribution first introduces the main legal instruments relevant to the continental protection of human rights in Africa, then discusses the norms recognised (individual and peoples' rights and duties, etc) and thereafter turns to the regional institutional structures set up to achieve the implementation of the norms. This institutional overview focuses primarily on four important pillars of the African human rights system: the organs of the African Union, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, the yet to be established African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights and the newly established African Peer Review Mechanism
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    The African Union
    (Duncker & Humblot, 2003) Heyns, C.H. (Christof H.); Baimu, Evarist; Killander, Magnus
    The article examines the objectives and institutional structure of the African Union (AU) in the light of the experiences of its predecessor the Organization of African Unity (OAU) as well as the African Economic Community (AEC). The OAU largely exercised a political function. The African Union has a much broader mandate, which includes economic integration. Among the new features of the AU are its efforts to be more people-centered through the establishment of a Pan-African Parliament, the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) and an emphasis on gender issues. Human rights is included in the mandate, as is conflict management and resolution, including humanitarian intervention. A development blueprint, New Partnershop for Africa's Developemnt (NEPAD), has been established with peer review as its main implementing mechanism. The Constitutive Act of the AU creates a number of new institutions, many of them not yet operational. Attention is drawn to the dangers inherent in the proliferation of institutions. On 26 May 2001 the Constitutive Act of the African Union entered into force. This paved the way for the establishment of the AU. The new organization, with 53 States as Members, was founded with the twin goals of furthering the economic integration and political unity of Africa. This ushered in a new phase in Africa's continental cooperation, a process which had started almost 40 years earlier.