Africa

[Timothy Fish Hodgson is a senior legal adviser for ESC Rights at the International Commission of Jurists (Africa). Valentin Büchi is a legal intern with the International Commission of Jurists (Africa).] On 23 April 2025, the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa (SCA) handed down a judgment in which it found that an eviction order against waste reclaimers had to fully consider...

[Petronella Mukaindo is an associate legal adviser at the International Commission of Jurists (Africa). Timothy Fish Hodgson is a senior legal adviser for ESC Rights at the International Commission of Jurists (Africa).] On 20 December 2024, the South African Constitutional Court handed down its judgment in O’Brien N.O. v Minister of Defence and Military Veterans and Others 2024 ZACC 30, affirming that...

[Frédéric Mégret is the Hans & Tamar Oppenheimer Chair in Public International Law at the Faculty of Law, McGill University and the James S. Carpentier Visiting Professor at Columbia Law School] In times of great pain, remembrance, especially when memory is both complex and selective, is an indispensable resource of contextualization. Between 1967 and 1970, as many as 2 million members of the...

[Temelso Gashaw is a human rights lawyer who has previously served as a senior human rights officer at the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC)] Ethiopia, an East African nation marked by tumultuous history of violent conflict, is currently at a critical juncture in its attempt to embark on a journey of confronting its violent past, ending ongoing injustices, and fostering reconciliation...

[Dr Daniel R. Ruhweza is a senior lecturer and head of the Department of Law and Jurisprudence at the Makerere University School of Law] Gaiane Nuridzhanian’s The Principle of ne bis in idem in International Criminal Law examines the common law principle of double jeopardy as established in the Rome statute under Article 20 as a legal principle. This Statute establishes...

[Saniamu Ngeywa has a masters of laws (LL.M.) in international human rights law from the University of Groningen, Netherlands] No Laughing Matter Retrogressive times and events have taken Kenya back to an all-too-familiar phase, rendering citizens, funny guys, dissidents, and rights defenders shivering. Social media enthusiasts banter that political positions should have an undisputed requirement that the applicant must be able to...

[Benoit Meystre is a Swiss lawyer and legal advisor at the International Investigations and Litigation Program of TRIAL International.] TRIAL International filed a criminal complaint against Ousman Sonko in 2017. The organisation supported nine plaintiffs who traveled to Switzerland in January 2024 to be heard by the court. It also ensured the regular publication of summaries of the hearings throughout the trial and advocated for the proceedings to...

[Lisa Davis is the senior associate dean of Clinical Programs & professor of law at CUNY Law School, and the ICC special adviser on Gender and Other Discriminatory Crimes. Kirby Anwar is a senior legal fellow at Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic, CUNY School of Law, senior legal advisor at MADRE and member of the Gender Persecution in Afghanistan Accountability Working...

[Dr Sarah Zarmsky is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at Queen’s University Belfast School of Law] Thank you to Professor Kevin Jon Heller for his helpful comments on an earlier version of this post. Introduction Yesterday, the Associated Press (AP) reported that a confidential report had been submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) which argues that the Russia-linked Wagner Group has committed international...

[Andrea Maria Pelliconi is a Lecturer in Human Rights Law & Global Justice at the University of Southampton, where she researches demographic engineering, displacement, and international law. She is currently undertaking a British Academy/Leverhulme-funded project on the Western Sahara dispute with Dr. Victor Kattan (University of Nottingham).] “Dakhla is essentially a military camp”, wrote (former) British diplomat Simon Pease in his report to the...

[Gerhard Kemp is professor of criminal law at UWE Bristol, and extraordinary professor of public law at Stellenbosch University] On Monday, 14 April 2025, the high court in Johannesburg issued an important ruling in the historic first criminal prosecution of two individuals for the crime against humanity of apartheid. The ruling is a significant victory for the prosecuting authority, civil society...

[Luciano Pezzano is Professor of Human Rights at the University of Business and Social Sciences (UCES, Argentina) and Lecturer of Public International Law at the National University of Cordoba (UNC, Argentina)] On 5 March 2025, the Republic of Sudan instituted proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the United Arab Emirates (UAE), for breaches of the Genocide Convention. The...