Anneke Meerkotter

The Botswana Court of Appeal’s Decriminalisation Judgment Explained

On 29 November 2021, the Botswana Court of Appeal issued a judgment in the case of Attorney General v Motshidiemang. The Court of Appeal held that the Penal Code’s prohibition of consensual sex between partners of the same sex is unconstitutional. This is only the second decision from an apex…

Anneke Meerkotter6 Dec 2021

Criminal Justice News SADC Sex Worker Rights

NEWS RELEASE: ABUJA HIGH COURT DENOUNCES VIOLATION OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

12 August 2021, Abuja – On 5 August 2021, the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Abuja Division, per Justice Maha, handed down a groundbreaking decision against law enforcement agencies that violated women’s rights. The Applicants were among 71 women who were arrested at various public spaces in Abuja between 17 and…

Anneke Meerkotter12 Aug 2021

Articles and Opinions Criminal Justice Focus areas Focus countries SADC

African Court challenges States to rethink the basis of their criminal laws

Published on Africa.com on 22 January 2021 On 4 December 2020, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights issued an Advisory Opinion which challenges the very notions which underpin our class-based societies. The African Court stated that there is no reasonable basis for a law which distinguishes between so-called…

Anneke Meerkotter27 Jan 2021

Articles and Opinions Criminal Justice Focus areas Focus countries News SADC

La Cour africaine met les États au défi de repenser les bases de leur droit pénal

Le 4 décembre 2020, la Cour africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples a émis un avis consultatif remettant en cause les notions mêmes qui sous-tendent nos sociétés de classes. Elle a déclaré qu’il n’y a pas de base raisonnable pour une loi établissant une distinction entre les soi-disant…

Anneke Meerkotter27 Jan 2021

Botswana Research Reports & Policy Briefs SOGIE Rights

Report: Legal Gender Recognition in Botswana

Legal gender recognition affects a person’s recognition and protection before the law and the ability to navigate through areas of daily life. It refers to transgender people’s ability to obtain official identification documents that reflect their name and gender identity, through legal and administrative processes. These processes include changing names…

Anneke Meerkotter10 Nov 2020

Malawi Research Reports & Policy Briefs SOGIE Rights

Malawi Research Report: ‘We get traumatised in different ways’

In February 2020, the Southern Africa Litigation Centre and Nyasa Rainbow Alliance held a consultation with individuals who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) in Blantyre, Malawi. At this consultation, community members shared their lived experiences and identified numerous instances of discrimination and social exclusion related to their…

Anneke Meerkotter10 Nov 2020

Lesotho Research Reports & Policy Briefs SOGIE Rights

Report: Legal Gender Recognition in Lesotho

Anneke Meerkotter5 Nov 2020

Children's Rights Criminal Justice Focus areas Health Rights Malawi News

JOINT CIVIL SOCIETY STATEMENT CALLING FOR DECONGESTION OF MALAWI PRISONS AMID COVID-19 PANDEMIC

9 April 2020, Malawi - We the undersigned organisations commend His Excellency, The State President, Arthur Peter Mutharika for including prison decongestion as one of the measures to combat COVID-19 in Malawi. In his Presidential Address on 4 April 2020, the State President announced new measures that the Government will undertake…

Anneke Meerkotter9 Apr 2020

Children's Rights Freedom of Expression, Assembly and Association Malawi News

NEWS RELEASE: MALAWI HIGH COURT GRANTS ORDER IN FAVOUR OF RASTAFARI SCHOOL CHILDREN

14 January 2020 – On 14 January 2020, the High Court of Malawi in Zomba granted an interlocutory injunction compelling the Minister of Education to allow all children of Rastafari religion, who have dreadlocks, to enroll into Government Schools pending the finalisation of the matter. The order is in line…

Anneke Meerkotter15 Jan 2020

Articles and Opinions Criminal Justice Malawi

SALC JOURNAL ARTICLE: LITIGATING TO PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF POOR AND MARGINALISED GROUPS IN URBAN SPACES

PUBLISHED IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI LAW REVIEW CAVEAT Anneke Meerkotter 74 U. Miami L. Rev. Caveat 1 (2020). Abstract For centuries, and across the world, penal laws have been used to regulate urban spaces, with a cruel focus on relegating poor and marginalized groups from such spaces. Criminal laws,…