‘The rule of law at home and abroad: Reflections (not only) on South(ern) Africa’

This Faculty Seminar Series (Faculty of Humanities) will be presented by Prof Henning Melber, Extraordinary professor at the Department of Political Sciences and Director Emeritus/Senior Adviser of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation in Uppsala

The discussant at the Faculty Seminar Series is Prof Michelo Hansungule (Centre for Human Rights, UP)

The rule of law (RoL) has emerged as a highly topical issue within global governance and was the subject of the High-Level Debate ahead of the opening of the United Nations’ General Assembly in September 2012. South Africa, like all other member states, underlined its commitment to the RoL and stressed the rights-based orientation of her multilateral relations. A fair legal system and access to justice remain individual and collective rights that ordinary citizens have to claim. They are hardly served on a silver platter and remain contested issues. Within the South(ern) African context, the recent debates around the Traditional Courts Bill and the Protection of Information Bill, as well as the controversial fate of the SADC Tribunal, are reminders that the RoL remains contested and is not given or secured. The lecture summarises essentials of the RoL notion and its current relevance in a global governance discourse. It then links this general debate to the sociopolitical realities in South Africa and the region.

Date: Friday 17 May 2013
Time: 12:30 - 14:30
Venue: Humanities Building, Level 7, Room 7-14, University of Pretoria
For more information, please contact Marinda Maree, marinda.maree@up.ac.za, 012 420 2505