Anneke Meerkotter

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 MeerkotterJan 27, 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 MeerkotterJan 27, 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 MeerkotterNov 10, 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 MeerkotterNov 10, 2020

Lesotho Research Reports & Policy Briefs SOGIE Rights

Report: Legal Gender Recognition in Lesotho

Anneke MeerkotterNov 5, 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 MeerkotterApr 9, 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 MeerkotterJan 15, 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,…

Anneke MeerkotterJan 15, 2020

Freedom of Expression, Assembly and Association News Zambia

CONCERN AS ZAMBIA POLICE DETAINS HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

23 December 2019, Livingstone – Three prominent human rights defenders are spending their 3rd day in police custody with no release in sight. The three activists have been at the forefront of calls for transparency and accountability in the spending of State resources. Their arrest and continued detention is a…

Anneke MeerkotterDec 23, 2019

Criminal Justice News SADC Sex Worker Rights

NIGERIA COURT ORDERS LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES TO UPHOLD SEX WORKERS’ RIGHTS

20 December 2019, Abuja – On 18 December 2019, the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Abuja Division, per Justice Nyako, handed down an important judgment on sex workers’ rights to due process at the hands of law enforcement agencies, in the case of CN and 15 Others v Minister of…

Anneke MeerkotterDec 20, 2019