Faculty of Law
Prof DG Kleyn, Dean
Telephone number: 012 420 2412
Fax number: 012 362 5184
E-mail address: duard.kleyn@up.ac.za
Preface by the Dean
The Faculty places a very high priority on research. Academics are encouraged to publish and participate in national and international conferences. The following highlights for the year under consideration can be mentioned.
In the Centre for Human Rights, Prof Christof Heyns conducted research for the United Nations (UN) on treaty reform, and presented his recommendations as part of a panel of experts in Geneva. In addition, Heyn’s book entitled: Human Rights Law in Africa – the leading reference work in this field - was translated into French. Prof Frans Viljoen and Mr Tshepo Madlingozi also conducted research on discrimination on behalf of the UN.
Constitutional Law of South Africa (CloSA), the most often cited source worldwide on the South African constitution, edited by Mr Stuart Woolman, a research associate of the Centre, saw the publication of the first chapters of its second edition.
Articles by Centre members were accepted for publication in leading international journals, and were translated into French, Portuguese, Spanish and Arabic.
Members of the Centre served on the editorial boards of leading international publications such as the Oxford International Law in Domestic Courts Reports, and the Netherlands Human Rights Quarterly to name but a few.
The Centre published a compendium of key human rights documents in Africa, as a joint venture with the UN and with the endorsement of the African Union. This publication will be distributed by the UN in French and Arabic.
The first publication of the newly established Pretoria University Law Press (PULP) entitled: Socio economic rights in South Africa and co-authored by Danie Brand and Heyns was published.
Two new additions to the Centre’s African Human Rights Law Journal appeared, as well as two English and one French volume of the African Human Rights Law Reports.
Members of the Centre for Advanced Corporate and Insolvency Law (CACIL) were very active during the academic year. In March 2005 members of CACIL including Proff André Boraine, David Burdette and Melanie Roestoff presented papers at the Insol International Quadrennial Congress, which was held in Sydney, Australia.
This was followed by the presentation of papers at an Insolvency Research and Teaching Workshop hosted by the University of Southern Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.
During 2005 Boraine continued his involvement as a committee member of the South African Law Reform Commission's subcommittee on the review of administration orders.
Burdette submitted his final report to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on the development of a modern and effective business rescue model for South Africa. The research was conducted under the auspices of CACIL on behalf of the DTI as part of their company law reform project. The report contains recommendations for the implementation of a new business rescue model for South Africa, and includes draft legislation for the implementation of the proposals.
Burdette was also invited to present a paper on insolvency law reform in South Africa at the Commonwealth Lawyers Association Conference, which took place in London from 11 to 15 September 2005.
The Centre for Child Law is undertaking research in the area of life sentences of children in support of constitutional test litigation that the Centre intends to bring before the courts.
The research involves a comparative analysis of sentencing trends in the world relating to persons under the age of 18 years. South Africa, along with the United States of America (USA) and Israel remain one of the few non-Sharia law countries in the world to retain life imprisonment for children.
Mental Health issues relating to children is another area that the Centre continues to research, following successful litigation in this area during 2005. Finally, private international law relating to children has become an important area of research, as the Centre is due to file an Amicus Brief on inter-country adoptions.
The Centre is also exploring the responsibility of the Department of Foreign Affairs to use diplomatic channels to ensure the safe return of children who have been abducted to countries that have not ratified the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction.
The AIDS and Human Rights Research Unit, a collaboration between the Centre for Human Rights and the Centre for the Study of AIDS, was involved in three major projects.
As consultant to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL), the Unit prepared a study on “mainstreaming” HIV/AIDS into the GPL’s oversight function. Based on field research about HIV stigma in the Hammanskraal community, the Unit commissioned a number of papers that were collected in the publication Righting stigma: Exploring a rights based approach to addressing stigma.
The Unit also conducted research on the issue of “routine testing”, organising a one-day conference on the campus, and presenting a paper at an international consultation on the topic in Montreal, Canada.
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