Public Interest Law Gathering
A coming together of public interest law practitioners in South Africa.
Justice Cameron Speech PILG 2014, 24 July
Programme 2014 (21 July 2014)
Speaker Biographies 2014
Panels for PILG 2014
Policing, Protest and the Criminal Justice System post-Marikana
Strategic Litigation in Sexual and Reproductive Rights: Perspectives from the Region
The Use of Constitutional Obligations to Budget for Socio-economic Rights in Public Interest Litigation and Advocacy
Chapter 9 Institutions
Transformation, the Judiciary, and the Profession
The Importance of Community Legal Education and Constitutional Literacy Programmes
The Private Healthcare Sector & the Constitution: Ensuring Access to Affordable, Quality Health Care for All
Human Rights in the Region
Understanding the Relationship Between the Environmental Right and Other Rights
Sexual Orientation, Non-conforming Gender Identity and Asylum
Informal Trading, Access to Livelihoods and Municipal By-Laws
The Impact of Gender on the Realization of the Rights of Health Care and Education
The Use of Research in Public Interest Advocacy and Litigation
Popular Representations of Human Rights & Public Interest Law
Legal Activism for Quality Education
Entering the Social Justice Sector
PILG Archive
Panel Descriptions 2013
Access to Information: civil society experiences and needs
Addressing Sexual Violence in Schools and Educator Accountability
Aspects of Disability Law
At Home and Abroad: Using International Law Frameworks Globally and Domestically to Secure South Africa's Rights Obligations
Budgetary Transparency and Accountability
Community Legal Education Programmes
Corporate Obligations in Respect of Human Rights
Customary Law — Whose Custom Is It Anyway?
Extractive Industries: Case Studies
From Consultation to Consent: is FPIC the best?
Health and Vulnerable Populations
Housing Strategies Post- Blue Moonlight
Informal Settlement Upgrading
Secure SA's Rights Obligations
Sex work in South Africa: The Case for Decriminalistion
The Criminal Injustice System : Gatherings in Law and Practice
The Legacy of the 1913 Land Act: Much Ado About Nothing
The Legal Practice Bill, Community Service, Pro Bono and the Ethics of Legal Representation
Papers and Presentations 2011
PILG Photos 2011
PILG Concept Note November 2009
PILG has moved
Posted by klaarenje on June 18, 2015
Posted in: Uncategorized.	Leave a comment
Please note: the official Public Interest Law Gathering website has moved and all relevant information regarding the event can be found here (please bookmark it):
http://www.publicinterestlawgathering.com
Thank you for your interest and support! It is well appreciated 🙂
Media Report on Keynote by Judge Jody Kollapen
Posted by klaarenje on July 28, 2014
http://www.wits.ac.za/newsroom/newsitems/201407/24183/news_item_24183.html
The keynote address of the Public Interest Law Gathering at Wits University on Thursday, 24 July 2014 was delivered by Judge Jody Kollapen of the North Gauteng High Court.
It was titled: "How, and to what extent, has public interest litigation unlocked the promise of the Constitution?"
Kollapen highlighted four areas in which public interest law work has made a significant contribution, including ensuring the lawful exercise of power, through strategic litigation and intervening in the law making process. "There should be a justification for the exercise of every power," he said.
Secondly, in many areas, such as the rights of women, children and asylum seekers, public interest law workers have taken the broad promise of rights in the Constitution and transformed it into real and meaningful guarantees. "We have seen remarkable work done in this area," said Kollapen.
Thirdly, according to Kollapen, public interest law workers have succeeded in empowering citizens and non-citizens by increasing public awareness and knowledge about what it means to live in a constitutional democracy.
Finally, they have shown that the Constitution can and does work. "When our constitution was adopted many years ago, people were sceptical about its ability to convert promises into reality," said Kollapen. He said that the work of the last few years had proven that through passion and commitment it was possible.
However, he said, if the question was have we done enough to transform our society, the answer would have to be decisively no.
Kollapen cautioned against the judicialisation of politics, saying there was a critical role for public interest lawyers, but also a need for the awareness of the limits of that role. He said that despite their best intentions, public interest lawyers should be strategic about the kinds of cases they took up.
"With that background, that considerable level of achievement, what is the state of the society in which we live today? To what extent have we achieved equality – the cornerstone of what we fought for in the pre-94 era, and the outcome that we should be measured against?" asked Kollapen.
"In this regard, the diagnostic report of the NPC reminds us that we remain a substantially unequal society. This is a far cry from the constitutional imperative that South Africa belongs to all who live in it."
Kollapen said that just as this generation ponders how it was possible for any society to justify and maintain apartheid for so long, so future generations will wonder how this society, with all its abundance, allowed such manifest inequality. "The democracy that we've put in place faces its biggest challenge form the ongoing inequality that still persists," he said.
Kollapen also spent some time discussing the role of Chapter 9 Institutions, saying that in a rule-based society, knowledge of the rules and how to use them was paramount. He said that in the context of our society, access to justice existed in criminal but not civil cases. "People regularly face the loss of a home or loss of employment and there's no automatic right to legal assistance."
Fortunately, Kollapen is in discussions to establish advice offices at the North and South High Courts to deal with matters such as evictions and foreclosures on mortgages. "I think this is important if we are serious about advancing socioeconomic rights," he said.
He encouraged those present to think about how they could contribute to socioeconomic and other forms of justice, saying that an hour of one's time could make a huge difference to putting someone on the right path.
In closing, Kollapen said that the challenges the country faced going forward were formidable but not insurmountable. He said that the Constitution had provided the means to address inequality, but that South Africa hadn't done as well as it should have. "That must be at the centre of our deliberations going forward."
Swazi Statement made at PILG 2014
JOINT STATEMENT BY CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS
Civil Society Organisations Condemn Unreasonable Sentence of Prominent Swaziland Activists
The undersigned organisations, meeting at the Public Interest Law Gathering in Johannesburg, condemn the conviction and unreasonable sentence handed down by Judge Mpendulo Simelane in the Mbabane High Court in Swaziland.
Last week, Judge Simelane found human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko and magazine editor Bheki Makhubu guilty of contempt of court and today sentenced them to a two-year jail term without the option of a fine. Judge Simelane argued that the articles penned by Maseko and Makhubu in The Nation magazine interfered with the administration of justice as they referred to a criminal matter still pending before court. Maseko and Makhubu had criticised the arrest and detention of government vehicle inspector, Bhantshana Gwebu, in January this year after he charged the driver of one of the Supreme Court judges with following an unauthorised route. The articles amounted to legitimate comment on the conduct of the judiciary and should not have led to the contempt of court charges brought against Maseko and Makhubu.
The pair has been unlawfully detained since their arrest in March and the trial has been fraught with procedural irregularities. Maseko and Makhubu had sought Judge Simelane's recusal due to his personal involvement in the Gwebu case, which had been the subject of the articles in question. In his judgment, he provided evidence related to the Gwebu matter, which remained unchallenged as he had not testified during the trial.
To compound the trial's injustices, Judge Simelane imposed the maximum possible sentence of two years imprisonment on Maseko and Makhubu and, in addition, a E100 000 (USD10 000) fine on the magazine and its publisher. The sentence failed to take into account the time Maseko and Makhubu had already spent in detention while awaiting trial.
The case has highlighted the increasing repression of activists in Swaziland and the conviction and sentence will further entrench the culture of fear in that country. The criminal justice system is being used by the authorities to silence those who dare speak out against the conduct of those in power. This case is a stark reminder of the lack of independence of the Swazi judiciary and we believe that this is a serious concern for the region as a whole.
Maseko and Makhubu's legal representatives are discussing the option of filing an appeal against the conviction and sentence. We call on the Swazi judicial and political authorities to ensure that an appeal be heard expeditiously and that due process be followed throughout the process.
Independence of the judiciary is a cornerstone of democracy and we wish to express our solidarity with Maseko and Makhubu and the people of Swaziland.
Socioeconomic Rights Institute (SERI)
Wits School of Law
Lawyers for Human Rights
Southern Africa Litigation Centre
ProBono.org
Legal Resources Centre
Centre for Applied Legal Studies
Students for Law and Social Justice
Right to Know Campaign
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
Southern African Human Rights Defenders Network
Centre for Child Law
Further Info:
Nicole Fritz, Executive Director, Southern Africa Litigation Centre; Tel: +27 (0) 10 596 8538; Mobile: +27 (0) 82 600 1028; Email: nicolef@salc.org.za
Jacob van Garderen, Lawyers for Human Rights; Mobile: +27 (0) 82 820 3960; Email:Jacob@lhr.org.za
Text of Justice Cameron's Speech at PILG 2014 available on website
Justice Cameron delivered a speech at a Birthday Party Reception in the evening of July 24, 2014.
Please go to the website at https://publicinterestlawgathering.wordpress.com
Livestreaming available for PILG 2014
All the PILG 2014 sessions being held in the Chalsty Auditorium are being livestreamed.
To view, go to http://streaming.wits.ac.za/live
A Thank You to Our Sponsor(s)
A Big THANK YOU to our sponsors for PILG 2014:
The Bertha Foundation
The Open Society Foundation South Africa
The South African Human Rights Commission
First Day Details: PILG 24 July 2014
*Participants are urged to get to the Wits campus early
*We will post suggestions re: where to find parking — be aware that the students will be in session
*Registration: Thursday, 24 July from 8:00 to 9:00, Chalsty Centre, Wits Law School, West Campus
*Start Time: 9:00 am SHARP!
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