03 September 2026
The Constitution Meets the Climate
The climate crisis has reached South Africa’s Constitutional Court. A dispute over offshore oil and gas exploration along South Africa’s Wild Coast developed into a much wider constitutional inquiry. The Court brought questions of participation, dignity, culture and environmental protection into conversation with the growing demands of climate responsibility. The judgment illustrates how climate change can acquire constitutional significance without the recognition of a freestanding constitutional right to a stable climate. Continue reading >>
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11 August 2025
Weaponising Gender in South Africa’s Chief Justice Appointment
Ros Dixon argues that “[p]lacing women in high office reflects commitments to fairness, diversity and equality of opportunity. But it also creates opportunities for anti-feminist, would-be authoritarians to use women’s descriptive representation to advance and legitimate their own sexist, authoritarian projects”. The South African Judicial Services Commission’s interviews for the country’s Chief Justice in 2022 provide a fascinating example of this phenomenon in the context of political struggles around corruption and accountability in South Africa. Continue reading >>
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12 July 2021
An Ordinary Result for the Rule of Law
Late on Wednesday 7 July, former South African President Jacob Zuma turned himself in to police. He thus just about complied with the Constitutional Court’s judgment on 29 June, which found him in contempt of court and sentenced him to 15 months’ imprisonment. This is not a victory for the rule of law. It simply is the rule of law. Continue reading >>
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04 October 2018
Open Secrets, Private Freedoms – The South African Constitutional Court Legalizes Marijuana Use in Private
Two weeks ago, the South African Constitutional Court legalized marijuana use under certain circumstances. Apart from its immediate impact, this ruling may signal shifts in the Court’s institutional self-conception. Continue reading >>
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08 March 2017
South Africa’s Withdrawal from the ICC: The High Court Judgment and its Limits
Domestic legal challenges to the South Africa government’s decision to withdraw from the ICC are underway, and while the first instalment has a distinctly Brexit flavor, it also foreshadows more substantive constitutional arguments to come. Continue reading >>22 November 2016
South Africa and the ICC, or: Whose Rights Does the Constitution Protect?
When the South African government announced that it would withdraw from the International Criminal Court, a great number of commenters expressed shock and disappointment. Legal commentators have also weighed in, questioning the legality of withdrawing from the ICC (here) and a legal challenge on several terms seems inevitable. Here, I want to consider the possibility of challenging the withdrawal on the basis of the Bill of Rights. Continue reading >>
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