Programme News
29 October 2018
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) will appear at the Constitutional Court on Thursday 1 November 2018 to challenge the Department of Home Affairs’ interpretation of the provisions of the Refugees Act that relate to exclusion from refugee status.
Mr Ruta a national from Rwanda arrived in South Africa in December 2014 and attempted to apply for asylum in February and March 2015. However,...
16 July 2018
(Press release)
16 July 2018
On 12 July 2018, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria handed down judgement in the matter of FNM v the Refugee Appeal Board and Others (Case number 71738/2016), in which Dodson AJ sets out a scathing indictment of the quality of administrative decision-making in South Africa’s asylum seeker process.
The applicant in this matter is an asylum seeker who fled from the...
26 June 2018
(Press release)
It is with the greatest concern that Lawyers for Human Rights notes the intention of the Dawid Kruiper Municipality to illegally evict 16 Congolese and Burundian foreign nationals from their current place of safety – a shelter that the Municipality had provided for them. The foreign nationals are victims of xenophobic attacks that occurred in Mapoteng Kathu on the 26th June 2018 which...
15 May 2018
(Press release)
On Tuesday, the 15th of May 2018, the Constitutional Court of South Africa will hear arguments pertaining to the Immigration Directive 21 of 2015 (“Directive 21”). Accordingly, Lawyers for Human Rights have been admitted as amicus curiae to put forth submissions that Directive 21 is unlawful and invalid.
Directive 21 very explicitly and unmistakably bars asylum seekers, in...
8 February 2018
(News)
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) made a submission to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on the occasion of its national hearing on social cohesion and xenophobia in South Africa.
The following recommendations were made:
Recommendation 1:
Accountability and ethical leadership at all levels.
Leadership at all levels when making public statements must do so in a manner which...
22 January 2018
(Press release)
22 January 2018- Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) expresses its concern over the announcement on Friday (19 January 2018) by the Cabinet Justice cluster of Operation Fiela II. Operation Fiela I, which took place during heightened xenophobic tensions in 2015, created an environment of fear and saw widespread human rights abuses by police, military and immigration officials. Use of...
29 June 2017
(Press release)
29 June 2017
The Constitutional Court handed down a historic decision today in the matter of Lawyers for Human Rights v. Minister of Home Affairs and others; the Court unanimously found that sections 34(1)(b) and (d) of the Immigration Act are inconsistent with the Constitution and therefore invalid. The Court ruled that the rights guaranteed in section 12 and 35 of the South African...
18 June 2017
(Press release)
On World Refugee Day, 20 June 2017, the Gauteng Provincial High Court in Pretoria will hear legal arguments by the Somali Association of South Africa (SASA) through their legal representative, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) in an attempt to address the current crisis of quality refugee ajudication at the Refugee Appeal Board (RAB).
It is contended that the RAB judgments reflect a...
12 April 2017
(News)
The Lawyers for Human Rights’ Refugee and Migrant Rights Program is looking for law graduates or paralegals to assist as interns in the Johannesburg law clinic in Braamfontein as well as our clinic in Pretoria.
Our interns assist with various support activities including client interaction and communication, legal correspondence and submissions, as well as administrative...
13 March 2017
(Press release)
13 March 2017
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) will appear in the Constitutional Court tomorrow, Tuesday 14 March 2017, at 10:00am to challenge the constitutionality of the provisions of the Immigration Act relating to detention. This application was originally set down to be heard in November 2016 but was postponed at the request of the State whose counsel was unavailable....