Posted on September 25, 2013
First row, fltr: Andre Mangu, Koos Malan, Geoffry Weichselbaum and Charles Fombad
Second row, fltr: Jill Cottrell, Yash Ghai, Richard Sizani, Anu Yacoob, Sandile Ncgobo, Mandla Mchunu,
Christina Murray, Khaled Attia and Erika de Wet
Back row, fltr: Rainer Grote, Babacar Kante, Dieter Grimm, Zak Yacoob, Glenn Penfold, Francois Venter,
Christof Heyns, Djedjro Meledje, Kofi Quashigah, Frank Michelman and Roger Southall
This seminar series brings together a selected number of experts in the field of constitutionalism, particularly in the African context. Participants this year included 25 experts from the continent involved in the writing of constitutions of countries such as Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Tunisia, as well as judges and academics from across the continent. Prof Frank Michelman from Harvard Law School, as well as Judge Dieter Grimm from the German Constitutional Court attended as international experts. The seminar is inclusive and lawyers as well as political scientists and other participate.
The participants discussed topics such as constitution building in Africa, the challenges to constitutional implementation in Africa and the problem of separation of powers, as well as the processes of writing constitutions in a number of African countries, including Egypt and the DRC.
ICLA is responsible for the reports on the constitutions of all African countries in the Oxford Constitutions of the World online publication. Almost half of the countries of Africa have been covered so far. The seminar was preceded by a workshop for the country rapporteurs of this publication, most of them former students of the human rights programme at the University of Pretoria.
According to the organiser of the seminar, Prof Charles Fombad, professor of law at the University of Pretoria, the first seminar proved the viability of the project for future years. “There is clearly a need for such occasions where those intimately involved with the constitutions of the continent can stand back a bit, once a year, and reflect on where we are going’. According to the director of STIAS, Prof Hendrik Geyer, the seminar also serves to illustrate that STIAS is a national asset, with a special focus on Africa, and that it is to be used by the universities and intellectuals of the country and the continent alike.
The seminar will take place every year during September at STIAS.
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