The absence of writing in pre-colonial Africa has often befuddled indigenous African jurisprudential thoughts about law and related concepts. This article attempts a reconstruction of indigenous African jurisprudential thoughts on the concept of justice through a prescriptive exploration of Yoruba proverbs. This attempt reveals inter alia the reconciliatory and metaphysical nature and character of justice, as well as the goals of punishment and the character and nature of a desirable judicial system in African thoughts. While noting the artificiality of the categorizations adopted for the reconstruction, the author cautions that, although it may be necessary to compare the indigenous African conceptions of justice with similar postulations in western jurisprudence, the true value of the former lies in their proper understanding and appreciation within the indigenous African setting, as doing otherwise might lead to contradictions and absurdities.

This article discusses certain provisions of the Zimbabwe Constitution Amendment Act 20 of 2013 that deal with the protection of socio-economic and cultural rights in Zimbabwe. The purpose of the article is to investigate the adequacy, flaws, challenges and prospects of these provisions in relation to the protection and affording of basic socio-economic and cultural rights to all citizens of Zimbabwe.

This article analyses the barriers that expectant mothers face in accessing appropriate, quality medical services in Kenya, and investigates the potential for the regional African human rights adjudicator to use provisional measures (PMs) to protect expectant mothers. The article aims to explore whether PMs adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights could be an appropriate legal tool to secure protection for expectant mothers who are dealing with obstacles in obtaining the medical services that they need. In that regard, this contribution suggests that the situation of certain expectant mothers in Kenya meets the two necessary conditions to grant PMs under the African Human Rights system: that the situation is urgent and the measures are necessary to prevent irreparable damage. It suggests that, following the tendency of other international human rights bodies, the Commission has the potential to play a relevant role in the context of maternal mortality.

As a small island developing state, Mauritius needs to manage its natural assets with a precautionary approach, especially as the tourism industry is one of the main pillars of its economy. While the precautionary principle has no statutory value in Mauritius, it serves as a guiding principle in environmental decision making. Since 1993, the assessment of impact has been mandatory under the Environment Protection Act (EPA) for major development activities, to avoid activities that may have a significant adverse impact on the environment and society. The local impact assessment procedure currently includes two categories of undertakings listed in the EPA, namely the environment impact assessment (EIA) and the preliminary environment report for undertakings with less environmental and socio-economic impact. This article examines the Mauritian EIA regulatory mechanism and seeks to strengthen the EIA process with a precautionary approach, to achieve more effective regulation and implementation.

Food is essential for human survival. When the right quantity and quality is taken, it ensures growth and an adequate supply of nutrition to the body, which results in basic effectiveness in all spheres of life. Genetically modified crops have the potential to alleviate hunger and provide more food, especially in developing countries that have high levels of hunger, malnutrition and poverty. Although the debates on genetically modified crops generally focus on intellectual property, other issues include health and environmental concerns. This article examines these issues with the aim of providing holistic knowledge of the subject matter, which is important for stakeholders, particularly in developing countries, in deciding to protect plant variety rights. The article concludes that it is essential for developing countries to consider food security issues in fulfilling their obligations under the TRIPS Agreement.

The supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law are key features of the post-apartheid legal order in South Africa. For either to have any real value, however, it is necessary that they are interpreted and applied by an independent judiciary that is free from executive influence. This important task has fallen mainly on the Constitutional Court. It has recently been called upon to rule on the lawfulness of the conduct of both the president and the National Assembly and held that both had acted unlawfully and inconsistently with the constitution. In the author's view, this ruling signifies that the maturing court is fully aware of its own constitutional obligations and that, unlike its apartheid era predecessors that were hamstrung by the supremacy of Parliament, it possesses a mandate to check the abuse of power by other branches of government.

The general rule in South Africa is that, when an offence is committed, the suspect has to be prosecuted by a public prosecutor. However, there is an exception whereby a victim of crime is permitted to institute a private prosecution if the prosecutor has declined to prosecute. South African law allows natural, but not juristic, persons to institute private prosecutions. In the case examined in this note, the appellant argued that the law prohibiting juristic persons from instituting private prosecutions is discriminatory. The Supreme Court of Appeal held that private prosecutions are only permitted on grounds of direct infringement of human dignity. This note argues that section 7 of the Criminal Procedure Act is unconstitutional for excluding juristic persons from instituting private prosecutions and recommends steps the appellant could take to institute private prosecutions against those who mistreat animals.