Programme News
11 December 2013
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) have been granted leave to appeal the dismissal of the case that challenged the unlawful closure of refugee and asylum-seeker traders’ informal businesses by the police. The challenge comes in the light of the right to work and trade as refugees and asylum-seekers in South Africa.
In July this year, LHR argued an application in the North Gauteng High...
7 December 2013
(News)
Nelson Mandela’s qualities as a leader who truly served his people and remained humble are the most important lessons to be learnt from his life, law firm Routledge Modise’s chairman, Lavery Modise, said on Friday.
"He brought out the best of what is expected in a leader. I cannot think of a better example. It will be a hard act to follow, but we should all try to emulate him,...
6 December 2013
(Press release)
It is difficult to come to terms with the news that the world’s most revered statesman and human rights activist is gone. As is so often said, he now belongs to the ages.
Although an old man, he seemed immortal. But Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a man, a man whose dedication to the struggle against Apartheid and injustice, and opposition to oppression moulded him into a beacon and a...
2 December 2013
(Press release)
Refugee and asylum-seeker traders are seeking leave to appeal the dismissal of their case before the North Gauteng High Court where they challenged the unlawful closure of their informal businesses by the police. The challenge comes in the light of their right to work and trade as refugees and asylum-seekers in South Africa.
In September this year, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) brought an...
29 November 2013
(News)
SA judgments ‘do not apply in Zimbabwe’
A ruling by South Africa’s appeal court on Wednesday, which gives the green light to South African police officials to investigate allegations of torture against Zimbabwean officials, has been dismissed as a "non-event" and an "unfortunate development" by Zimbabwe’s newly appointed prosecutor-general, Johannes...
28 November 2013
(News)
It was a remark that no one who heard it in court is likely to forget: victims of serious torture in Zimbabwe found it “offensive” when the perpetrators came to South Africa on shopping trips and enjoyed immunity from any legal action.
Wim Trengove SC, who made this observation, was talking about his clients – supporters of the Zimbabwean opposition who were rounded up in Harare...
27 November 2013
(News)
South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the country’s police should investigate alleged crimes against humanity in neighboring Zimbabwe.
The charges of “widespread and systematic torture” are serious enough for South African authorities to pursue their perpetrators even if the wrongdoing was committed in another country, the Bloemfontein-based court ruled...
27 November 2013
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights - representing the Southern Africa Litigation Centre and Zimbabwe Exiles Forum - welcomes the Supreme Court of Appeal’s judgment, dismissing an appeal of the 2012 High Court decision setting aside the decision of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and South African Police Service (SAPS) not to initiate an investigation into crimes against humanity committed in...
27 November 2013
(Press release)
Johannesburg, 27 November – In a landmark decision for local and international justice, the South African Supreme Court of Appeal today ordered the South African Police Service (SAPS) to investigate high level Zimbabwean officials accused of committing crimes against humanity in Zimbabwe.
In its judgment, the Court made it clear that the perpetrators of systematic torture – as was...
27 November 2013
(Press release)
Please note that the media summary is for the benefit of the media and does not form part of the judgment.
National Commissioner of the South African Police Service v Southern African Human Rights Litigation Centre (485/2012) [2013] ZASCA 168 (27 November 2013).
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) today dismissed an appeal by the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service and...