For a long time children have been considered to be vulnerable persons, incapable of making rational decisions. As a result, decisions have been made for children by other people such as their parents or guardians. In most African societies, including Malawi, children remain largely voiceless and dependent on their parents who view their role mainly as being to protect children from their own actions and actions of other people. However, international law considers children as autonomous persons capable of making their own decisions. Thus, it requires states to recognise the autonomy a child although it also recognises that parents are free to raise children the way they want. Both the CRC and the African Children's Charter recognise children as bearers of rights and guarantee their right to take part in decisions that affect them. These treaties also recognise the principles of the best interests of the child, non-discrimination, and the child's right to life, survival and development. This thesis finds that while the best interests' principle has been domesticated under the Constitution, the other principles are not explicitly entrenched in the Constitution or under the Child Care, Protection and Justice Act. At best, they can be implied in other provisions of the Act. Overall, the Child Care, Protection and Justice Act leans towards enhancing the parental autonomy in child rearing and institutional protection of children rather than towards the emancipation of children in accordance with their evolving capacities.

Includes bibliographical references.

Includes bibliographic references. / The proceedings brought against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto for post-election election violence in 2007 by the International Criminal Court has resulted in action by the African Union that undermines individual criminal responsibility for heads of state and government officials and for the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa. This thesis will assess whether the African Union’s decision to not cooperate with the International Criminal Court, and the adoption of Article 46A Bis of the Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights is unlawful under the principles of international law. This thesis will also assess how these decisions will impact Africa’s ability to promote and protect human rights on the continent.

This study generally focuses on the important role that National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) play in promoting and protecting human rights at the domestic level, hence the need for NHRIs to be effective and efficient in the discharge of their mandate. One way of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of a NHRIs is by ensuring that it adheres to international principles and methods of promoting and protecting human rights as well as by adopting best practices from other NHRIs. The study therefore traces the evolution of NHRIs and their recognition at the international level. It also analyses the different forms in which NHRIs exist and discusses the recommended international principles and standards that act as core minimum in terms of a NHRI's mandate, methods of operation, composition and other guarantees of independence. Due to the fact that states have a wide discretion to devise appropriate means of applying the core minimum principles, this study also presents several best practices from different NHRIs in their implementation of the international principles and standards. Particular attention has been directed at the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) by assessing whether the MHRC adheres to the international principles and standards in its operations, and to consider whether it could advance human rights better by improving its working methods.

Includes bibliographical references. / This thesis examines the prohibition of indiscriminate attacks in non-international armed conflicts. The world has seen an increase in the number of armed conflicts that are not of an international character. Most of these conflicts have proven to be very destructive and detrimental to persons not taking part in the hostilities. Having in mind the fact that International Humanitarian Law seeks to protect persons not taking part in armed conflicts, this thesis is an appraisal of whether International Humanitarian Law prohibits indiscriminate attacks in non-international armed conflicts.

The chief obstacle in the resolution of historical injustices in international law is the inter-temporal question, summarized as the requirement that positive substantive international law, as it stood at the time in which an injustice occurred, ought always to apply over latter laws. Jus cogens, being largely independent from positive international law, offers a possible resolution to this problem: a possibility that this thesis explores using Mau Mau torture claims as a case study. Present in much legal opinion on the question is a presumption that inter-temporal law applies unless state practice justifying an exception for jus cogens can be found. However, this necessarily subjects jus cogens to inter-temporality and contradicts the standard meaning of jus cogens and its superior status in the entire legal framework of international law. It is argued in this paper that the superiority of jus cogens in international law should be reflected in the application of the inter-temporal principle, as indeed it should in the application of all other inferior norms and principles wherever relevant subject matter is in issue. After the introduction in chapter one, the above-described problem in the scholarly approach to inter-temporal law and jus cogens is highlighted in chapters two and three, wherein an apparent normative conflict between jus cogens and inter-temporal law is demonstrated. But if jus cogens norms begin at an identifiable point in time and are prospective in nature, no over-lap and thus no contradiction can be spoken of where the matter occurred before the emergence of these norms, a problem tackled in chapter four. Difficulties in the standard definition of jus cogens found in article 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties are also discussed along with an argument for an unlimited temporal scope of application for 'humanitarian' peremptory norms. Lastly, chapter five approaches the problem through the prism of a balancing scale of competing interests. In short, this thesis argues that there is no threat to justice, law or truth in applying 'humanitarian' peremptory norms to old injustices in the area of state responsibility.

The development of modern technology is inevitably bound to change the conduct of warfare. It is also self-evident that the mode, typology and participants in current armed conflicts do not fit within the structures of traditional international law on the use of armed force. Indeed, in some cases the new conflicts pose intractable challenges to the existing law. This is particularly true with regard to the military use of cyber operations either in the context of armed self-defence or in the conduct of hostilities in time of armed conflict. The establishment of the worldwide computer network and the increasing reliance on digital services has brought about a new type of clear and present danger: the threat of cyber attack. The fact that cyber operations are a relatively novel phenomenon in the history of international law automatically raises some important questions regarding whether the existing rules of international law apply to them.6 Consider the evidence indicating that there have been Chinese government-backed cyber operations, including espionage, targeting State and corporate computer networks in the United States. The question that arises in regard to cyber incidents, like the one illustrated above, is whether international law governs them, and if so which specific rules apply, and the circumstances in which they apply. With the aim of clarifying the uncertainty as to the specific rules pertinent to cyber warfare, the Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare was developed by a group of twenty renowned international law scholars and practitioners. It provides a useful basis on which to identify how and evaluate the extent to which international law applies to cyber operations. This research seeks to critically appraise both the current and prospective contribution of the Tallinn Manual to the advancement of international law. In particular, it focuses on how international law as enunciated in the Tallinn Manual governs cyber operations in general and how it applies to cyber-unique aspects of this form of warfare. The research then reviews the achievements of the Tallinn Manual as well as its shortfalls in relation to the development of a coherent framework of international law that can be used to govern cyber operations. After this, the research turns to the increasing role of non-binding instruments of international law in the process of international law-making. The case is then made for the possibility of the Tallinn Manual being the basis on which future binding norms may be crafted to provide specific legal regulation for cyber operations.

This dissertation presents an evaluation of universal jurisdiction over torture offenses. By doing so, it focuses on European states, in particular Belgium, France and the United Kingdom, all of which show a particular openness to prosecute torture offences on the basis of universal jurisdiction. It is demonstrated that Belgium, France and the United Kingdom have complied with the obligation set out in article 5(2) of the UN Torture Convention to establish universal jurisdiction over torture offences in their domestic legislation. They were, moreover, the first countries to conduct torture trials on this ground. However, 30 years after the signature of the Convention, such trials rarely occur because European prosecutors and courts face both practical and legal problems. I argue that some controversies have been solved, especially those relating to the non-retroactivity of the implemented legislation, the prohibition of amnesties, as well as the legality of the proceedings in the absence of the offender and of the operation of a principle of subsidiarity. The latter principle would give primacy jurisdiction at least to the territorial state that wants and is able to prosecute. However, the controversies relating to the legality of the universal jurisdiction over the torture of citizens of non States Parties, the ne bis in idem prohibition, the broad immunities and the establishment of efficient legislation and cooperation between states are far from being settled. I argue that the cooperation between states at the regional and international level is needed to solve the legal and practical issues about universal jurisdiction over torture, and to stop its differentiated applications. The forum state is also responsible to provide prosecution and police services with a suitable working context that has clear and efficient legislation and guidelines about universal jurisdiction over torture. Indeed, successful prosecution primarily devolve to these criminal practitioners' motivation.

This dissertation aims to answer the question: does the international criminal law framework provide adequate protection to the African girl child soldier? The motivation for the choice of this question came about in my final year of LLB. I conducted research on crimes against humanity committed by Boko Haram, and found a lot of research had been conducted on the use of children in war. I became particularly interested in the use of girl child soldiers because of the disparity between them and their male counterparts - how they were used during conflicts and the definitions of child soldier in international statutes. The constant reference in international treaties of child soldiers as those who take part in 'direct hostilities', I felt excluded girl child soldiers from protection as girl child soldiers are often used as base-camp soldiers, spies and often times sexually, physically and emotionally abused.

A key challenge of the present is the growing number of consumer debtors, often caused by easy access to credit. Especially for people on low incomes, even an unforeseen event can lead to a situation in which credit rates can no longer be serviced. The result is insolvency. However, in the past many jurisdictions were not prepared for the challenges of low income insolvency. It was not until more recent times that legislators began to develop special insolvency procedures tailored to people with low incomes. This comparative research presents the insolvency proceedings of South Africa, in particular the recently introduced low income insolvency proceedings, and compares them with those of New Zealand, Great Britain and Germany, whereby Germany is the only one of these countries without a low-income insolvency procedure. It is established that each of these proceedings has advantages and disadvantages. It is also noted that despite the existence of insolvency proceedings, the number of consumer debtors continues to rise. Therefore, in addition to a proposal for insolvency proceedings combining the feasible aspects of each of the legal systems presented, it is also proposed to teach financial literacy at school in order to prevent over-indebtedness.