The harmful traditional practice of child marriage remains one of the main challenges towards the full realization and enjoyment of children's rights in Africa. In the sub-Saharan Africa alone, countries such as Malawi are faced with the problem of child marriage where as high as 40% of the women are married as children. Malawi has a substantive legal framework that affords protection and prohibits the harmful practice of child marriage. However, child marriages remain prevalent in Malawi where harmonisation of the laws is problematic. This has the effect of robbing the girl child of her childhood, access education and health among other rights that she is entitled. Addressing this problem in Malawi as a matter of urgency is crucial for the promotion, protection and realisation of children's rights, especially to the girl child. This study therefore conducts an analysis of the legal framework and contextual practice of child marriage in Malawi based on desk research of various laws in Malawi and literature. This analysis is premised on the understanding that human rights law within a legal framework plays a major role towards ensuring that young girls are protected from child marriage and its attendant consequences. This study has found that the laws of Malawi are not synchronised with each other especially with the Malawi Constitution with regard to protecting the rights. The case in point for instance is the recent passing of the Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Act which reflects international and regional human rights standards, but is inconsistent with the Constitution of Malawi. It is recommended that Malawi should through the law address the practice of child marriage by amending the Constitution to remove any ambiguities. In this regard, creating a protective legal framework must not be done in vain. This should be supported by effective implementation of national development plans that aim to realise the rights of children, especially the girl child.

The involvement of children to fight in armed conflicts remains one of the main challenges towards the full realization of children's rights on the African continent. Despite a substantive legal framework affording protection and prohibiting the enlisting and recruitment of child soldiers, this practice remains prevalent in many parts of Africa particularly in the Great Lakes Region. As a result of their childhood and the traumatic events they are exposed to during armed conflicts, children inexorably suffer from many forms of harm including physical, mental and psychological harm. Addressing this harm as a matter of urgency is crucial for the proper and effective reintegration of these children into society. The Rome Statute departs from the silence of many international criminal law instruments which focus exclusively on the prosecution and sentencing of criminals overlooking the needs of the victims of international crimes by offering redress. It introduces a new and unique reparative system that aims at providing redress to the victims of international crimes within the courts' jurisdiction. This reparative regime which is still in its early life stages faces many challenges and uncertainties. In its first case dealing with principles relating to reparations, the International Criminal Court (ICC) showed these challenges and the difficulty of establishing permanent guidelines on future reparations to former child soldiers who are victims of the international crime(s) of the enlisting and recruitment to fight as combatants. Clear principles can help current and future victims by having an insightful and realistic expectation of the modalities and the scope of the reparation award they can get from the ICC.

This dissertation aims to interrogate the following research question: How would the decriminalisation of sex work model align with the South African human rights framework? The dissertation recommends the decriminalisation model of law reform, as it will fulfil public health goals and respect human rights. The study highlights the systemic patterns of abuse that sex workers in South Africa experience because of the criminalisation of sex work. In response to the research question, an analysis of the impact of criminalisation on sex worker's human rights is offered together with a description and analysis of existing legislative models such as the legalisation model (adopted in the Netherlands), partial criminalisation model (also known as the ‘end-demand' model, which is enforced in Sweden) and the decriminalisation model (applied in New Zealand and Australia), as well as how the aforementioned models might benefit sex workers and the broader society. In addition, the dissertation addresses the current legal position and jurisprudence on sex work in South Africa. The impact of the criminal law on sex workers and general society is discussed and the current untenable position created by outdated legislation is highlighted. An analysis of the current legal framework in South Africa that prohibits sex work is provided, and the impact of the current legal framework on sex worker's constitutional human rights is examined. The case precedents on sex worker human rights in South Africa and the existing legal models, as mentioned above, on sex work are also analysed. A consideration of South Africa's compliance obligations under international and regional human rights treaties and the South African Constitution, as well as the statutory approaches adopted in New Zealand, Australia and the Netherlands are further explored. The intended outcomes of this dissertation are: a) To illustrate that the decriminalisation model of sex work is compatible with the human rights framework in South Africa; and b) To provide a basis for a proposal for an appropriate legal model for South African policy makers, tasked with formulating and implementing a statutory framework that recognises and protects the human rights of sex workers in South Africa.

No description available.

No description available.

Note:

The Republic of South Africa became democratic after it succeeded to come out of a long time 'scourge' of the apartheid system which violated quite a number of human rights. One of the tools employed during that era was unnecessary secrecy which hampered citizen's right to know. When South Africa held its first election in 1994 it commenced a new South Africa without apartheid; it aimed at embracing human rights and to do away with all bad laws existing before a democratic South Africa. Consequently, the supreme law of the Country, the Constitution of 1996, entrenched human rights law amongst which is the right to access to information held by the State and another person that is required for the 'exercise and protection of human right'. This was underscored in section 32. This right started to ·appear in the interim constitution of South Africa of 1993, but was amended in the current constitution by the addition of a subsection which directed that 'national legislation must be ena~ted to give effect to this right ... ' The provision of the Constitution was effected by enacting a legislation of the Promotion and Access to Information Act of 2000) (PAIA) which put in practice the directive of the Constitution. This minor dissertation intends to make a follow up of how this right is being implemented in South Africa. In doing so, the right to know will be examined in relation to institutional and cultural secrecy. Briefly, the dissertation will seek to answer the questions: i) what are the legislative norms which have been put in place to promote and safeguard this right? and ii) are there limitations and challenges to this right? Then at the end of this dissertation, the research will present a comparative study with Tanzania, the country of origin of the present author, where the right to know is recognized by the Constitution of Tanzania but remains ineffective for lack of concrete laws to enforce the right of access to information. In a state where there is no law providing for public access to government information, this work can present a lesson from South Africa. Furthermore, it is hoped that this dissertation can contribute ideas at this moment when Tanzania is in a · transitional process of making a new Constitution.

In recent decades, achieving the goal of the global protection of human rights has been approached most commonly through multilateralism. States have since abandoned notions of self-reliance in favour of interdependency and collaboration, leading to a proliferation of international, regional, and sub-regional multilateral organizations. However, the definition of ‘multilateralism' restricts the application of the legal frameworks of these organizations to sovereign states that have voluntarily consented to be bound by the obligations contained therein. State consent and political will drive multilateralism, and the requirement of voluntariness in these forms has been utilised as a means of respecting the internationally recognized legal principle of state sovereignty. Consequently, voluntariness has impacted the effective functioning of organizations such as the African Union (‘AU') and the Southern African Development Community (‘SADC'). This thesis proposes that the less significant the impact of voluntariness is on a regional or sub-regional human rights system, the more effective it will be in its role of protecting human rights. This thesis provides practical ways of lessening the impact of voluntariness, in order to strengthen the human rights legal frameworks of the AU and the SADC; and to improve the functioning of their respective compliance mechanisms. This thesis achieves the aforementioned by drawing from the systems' European and African regional and sub-regional counterparts.

This thesis addresses the right to ‘basic education' in South Africa by focusing on the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). To what extent South Africa is bound by this treaty and whether it is fulfilling its obligations are the central questions of the thesis. To provide answers to these questions, the situation in South Africa regarding the various aspects of this right in terms of the 4-A scheme, which was developed in order to define the country's obligations as per the ICESCR, is examined. It can be seen from the 4-A scheme that South Africa is bound by the ICESCR regarding basic education to a large extent. This includes that schools must be physically and economically accessible to learners, and that there must be a comprehensive infrastructure. The ICESCR also calls for a certain quality of education to be provided to learners with disabilities, as well as for learners to be provided with food. Based on this examination regarding these aspects of the right to education according to the ICESCR, it can be concluded that South Africa often does not meet these requirements.

Under Apartheid children with disabilities were systematically excluded from the education system. With the dawn of democracy, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa guaranteed the right to basic education for everyone. The Preamble of the South African Schools Act went further by recognising the importance of creating an education system that could remedy past injustices and provide high-quality education for all. Yet despite these guarantees, South Africa has failed to realise the right to education for children with disabilities. Today, a considerable portion of children who are out of school consists of children with disabilities. This paper critically assesses the ability of South Africa's current legislative and policy framework to realise the right to education for children with disabilities. It considers South Africa's international law obligations concerning education provision. It further considers South Africa's domestic legal and policy framework by taking an in-depth look at the effectiveness of various education legislation, policies, guidelines, and plans of action. This paper argues that the current legislative and policy framework is insufficient to realise the right to education for children with disabilities. It further argues that a comprehensive legislative and policy framework is a key first step to realising this right.