Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law, Governance and Human Rights: Recent submissions

Now showing items 61-80 of 364

    • Solitary Confinement - A review of the legal framework and practice in five African countries 

      Petersen, Kristen; Mahomed, Safeeya; Muntingh, Lukas; Lorizzo, Tina (Dullah Omar Institute, 2018)
      The effect of long periods of solitary confinement have been shown to have severe impacts on a prisoner’s mental and physical well-being. The UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) has noted that the use of prolonged solitary ...

    • An Assessment of the National Prosecuting Authority: A Controversial Past and Recommendations for the Future 

      Muntingh, Lukas; Redpath, Jean; Petersen, Kristen (Dullah Omar Institute, 2017)
      The Constitution of South Africa provides for a single, independent national prosecution authority. The office of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) was formally established through the National Prosecuting Authority ...

    • Expungement of a criminal record May 2018 Crimes committed by an adult 

      Africa Criminal Justice Reform (2018)
      Expungement removes the criminal record of your conviction from the Criminal Record Centre of the South African Police Service (SAPS).This allows a person to carry on with life without a criminal record being an obstruction ...

    • Expungement of a criminal record Crimes committed by a child 

      Africa Criminal Justice Reform (Dullah Omar Institute, 2018)
      Expungement removes the criminal record of your conviction from the Criminal Record Centre of the South African Police Service (SAPS). This allows a person to carry on with life without a criminal record being an obstruction ...

    • National Prosecuting Authority Performance 

      Africa Criminal Justice Reform (Dullah Omar Institute, 2018)
      The National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa (NPA) was created by legislation which came into effect in August 1998, and became a stand-alone entity in 2002/3, whereas previously it was more closely embedded in the ...

    • The effect of sentencing on the size of the South African prison population 

      Chris, Giffard; Lukas, Muntingh (Open Society Foundation for South Africa, 2006-10)
      That South African prisons are experiencing serious and growing overcrowding problem is well-known to anyone with an interest in the criminal justice sector. Particularly since 2000 the widening gap between available prison ...

    • Alternative sentencing in South Africa: an update 

      Lukas, Muntingh (Institute for Security Studies, 2005)
      With South Africa’s ever growing prison population, the hope is often expressed that non-custodial sentencing options or ‘alternative sentencing’ will relieve the overcrowding and its associated ills. The current situation ...

    • Indefinite imprisonment in South Africa: The difference between life and indefinite imprisonment 

      Africa Criminal Justice Reform (Dullah Omar Institute, 2018)
      In May 2018, Pieter Van Tonder was sentenced to indefinite imprisonment in the Cape High Court. Van Tonder brutally assaulted and murdered the 16-month old baby of his ex-girlfriend. This case happened shortly after the ...

    • Report on the evaluation of the Independent prison visitors (IPV) system 

      Jacqui, Gallinetti (Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative, 2004-05)
      This report on the IPV system forms part of a larger study into civilian oversight of the correctional system. Saras Jagwanth has completed an evaluation of the Office of the Inspecting Judge, which should be read in ...

    • The appointment and dismissal of the NDPP: Instability since 1998 

      Africa Criminal Justice Reform (Dullah Omar Institute, 2018)
      The position of National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) has emerged since 1998 as one of the most unstable positions in government. This can to a large degree t be ascribed to how appointments and dismissals are ...

    • NPA Accountability, trust and public interest 

      Africa Criminal Justice Reform, Lukas (Dullah Omar Institute, 2019)
      This discussion document deals with three key concepts associated with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and its relation to the public, namely accountability, public interest and trust. It is presented that for the ...

    • Corruption in the prison context 

      Lukas, Muntingh (Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative, 2006)
      The point of departure of this paper is that, in general, corruption is a human rights issue, which is accentuated in the prison context given the nature of imprisonment. Three factors create an intrinsic risk for corruption ...

    • Policy and practice in South African prisons: an update 

      Julia, Sloth-Nielsen (Law, Democracy & Development, 2005)
      In June 2003, the Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative (CSPRI) released a policy review concerning major developments in penal policy in South Africa since the advent of constitutionalism in 1994. This paper was widely ...

    • Prisons in South Africa's constitutional democracy 

      Lukas, Muntingh (Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, 2007-10)
      In this article it will be argued that to make prisons compatible with a constitutional democracy, as understood in South Africa, four requirements need to be met. First, the prison system must have an underlying philosophical ...

    • The right of prisoners to vote in Africa: An update 

      Muntingh, Lukas (Africa Criminal Justice Reform, 2019)
      Broadly speaking, universal suffrage refers to the rights conferred on adult citizens of a country to vote, however, there are always restrictions to a greater or lesser degree on who can vote in every democratic political ...

    • Failing to discipline in SAPS - Fostering a culture of impunity 

      Africa Criminal Justice Reform (Dullah Omar Institute, 2019)
      It is with unfortunate regularity that we read reports in the media about corrupt South African Police Service (SAPS) officials and officials implicated in other crimes, including human rights violations. Indicative of ...

    • Surveying the prisons landscape - what the numbers tell us 

      Lukas, Muntingh (Law, Democracy & Development, 2005)
      This article will make observations and describe trends using available prison statistics in order to offer a quantitative perspective on the issues of democracy and human rights in South African prisons. In chis sense, ...

    • Arrested in Africa: An Exploration of the Issues 

      Muntingh, Lukas (Dullah Omar Institute, 2015)
      Recent research and advocacy efforts have drawn attention to the excessive use of and prolonged pre-trial detention in Africa. At any given moment there are roughly 1 million people in Africa’s prisons. Far more move ...

    • Ten years after the Jali Commission: assessing the state of South Africa's prisons 

      Lukas, Muntingh (South African Crime Quaterly, 2016-12)
      Ten years have lapsed since the Jali Commission’s final report became publicly available, and it is therefore an opportune time to assess the state of South Africa’s prison system. The Jali Commission was appointed when ...

    • Modest beginnings, high hopes: The Western Cape Police Ombudsman 

      Muntingh, Lukas (South African Crime Quarterly, 2018)
      In 2013 the Western Cape legislature passed the Western Cape Community Safety Act (WCCSA) to improve monitoring of and oversight over the police. One creation of the WCCSA is the Western Cape Police Ombudsman, which became ...