CONSTITUTIONAL COMMENTARY AND EVENTS
ARTICLES AND STATEMENTS
PODCASTS
SUBMISSIONS
SPEECHES
EVENTS
STATEMENT: WHEN POLITICS SUPERCEDES DECENCY AND JUSTICE
Minister Bathabile Dlamini’s weekend statement – that current demands for the law to take its course against Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, Mduduzi Manana, are nothing more than a “political tool” – defies comprehension.
STATEMENT: THE CYBERCRIMES AND CYBERSECURITY BILL [B6-2017] – NEW AND IMPROVED BUT STILL WORRISOME
On 10 August 2017, the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CFCR) made a submission to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services on the Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill [B6-2017].
The Bill, an amended version of the draft Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill [B-2015], essentially seeks to address the increase in cybercrimes and cybersecurity breaches in the modern digital age. The Bill is an improvement of the initial draft [B-2015] released in August 2015. However, it still has the potential to infringe upon constitutional rights to privacy, access to courts and freedom of expression.
The Centre raised concerns about the prohibition of a “data message which is harmful” on the right to freedom of expression. Not only does this clause rely on undefined terminology to instances when a data message will be considered “harmful”, it also fails to prescribe any statutory defences. This clause does not fall within the very narrow prohibited forms of expression as set out in the Constitution and potentially infringes upon freedom of expression as envisaged by the Constitution.
STATEMENT BY THE CENTRE FOR UNITY IN DIVERSITY ON THE CUSTOMARY INITIATION BILL
The Centre for Unity in Diversity (CUD) commends the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in acting to stem the deaths of more young men in South Africa by acknowledging the necessity for an encompassing piece of legislation to cover as many aspects of the practice of customary initiation as is possible.
CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES
- Equality
- Non-racialism
- Gender Rights
- The Constitution
- The Rule of Law
- Multiparty Democracy
- Personal Rights
- Cultural, Religious and Language Rights
- Freedom of Expression and Political Rights
- Social and Economic Rights
- Property Rights
- Education
- Access To The Courts, Information And Fair Adminstration