African Journal of Legal Studies最新文献

The June 2023 elections in Sierra Leone occurred against the backdrop of amendments to the Public Elections Act (pea), the enactment of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act (gewe), and a switch from the First Past the Post (fptp) electoral system to the Proportional Representation (pr) electoral system. For the first time in Sierra Leone’s history, law reforms, among other things, introduced a 30% gender quota rule for parliamentary and councillorship seats. After the 2023 elections, women won 41 out of the 135 elected parliamentary seats, increasing the percentage of women parliamentarians from 12.32% in the 2018 elections to 30.37%. Despite the increase, there have been concerns about the overall effectiveness of the gender quota rule in facilitating women’s access to parliamentary seats. The gender quota rule is set below 50%, is not accompanied by the candidates’ ranking order, does not apply in the election of 14 paramount chiefs, and operates within poor data desegregation of the candidates. This article highlights the required reforms to address the identified legal challenges to facilitate women’s equal access to representation in Sierra Leone’s Parliament.

The investigatory framework of cybercrime is as essential as the legal and institutional framework governing cybercrime. This article argues that an effective investigation process is fundamental to the effective prosecution of cybercrime offences. Cybercrime investigation involves digital forensics, intelligence gathering, lawful interception, and use of communication data and internet networks. At its core, cybercrime investigation necessitates a comprehensive cybercrime investigation framework backed by a legal framework that ensures effective evidence collection, preservation, and analysis. This article evaluates the cybercrime investigation structure in Nigeria and highlights the gaps in Nigeria’s regulatory framework. It identifies the challenges that hinder Nigeria’s successful investigation and prosecution of cybercrime offences. The study adopts a comparative methodology by juxtaposing cybercrime investigation in Nigeria with the law and practice in the United Kingdom (UK). The UK has a robust cybercrime investigation framework, strengthened by its Cyber Security Strategy 2022. The findings show that, unlike the UK’s Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, 2000 and the Investigatory Powers Act, 2016, the Nigerian Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act, 2024, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and other laws, are silent on essential investigatory initiatives, steps and specialised powers. The study proposes a practical cybercrime investigation framework to implement Nigeria’s effective prosecution of cybercrime offences.

This article focuses on the impact of land investments in Mozambique. It examines the effects these land investments are having on local people’ access to food and sustenance, culture, land and water, and political engagement in some Mozambican provinces and areas. The next section critically evaluates whether human rights related to the aspects are being violated, as well as Mozambique’s legal obligations under both local and international law. The main goals are to alert the academic community to the negative impacts that land grab and investments have on local populations in Mozambique and to explain how these activities can be effectively stopped by using the normative framework now in place on human rights. It argues that foreign companies and investors in Mozambique are causing significant negative impacts on local communities, including livelihood, food, culture, land, and political participation. These issues are already protected by human rights law, and effective protection by the state could help combat land grabbing. Mozambique’s judiciary, civil society, and human rights institutions should work together to prevent local communities from being harmed.

This article explores when constitutional damages can and should be awarded in South African law. The history of the divergence between common-law damages and constitutional damages (and the uncertainty that might arise about which type of damages a victim of an injury ought to pursue) is explored. Thereafter, a critical and constructive interpretation of the case law on constitutional damages is provided, which sets the scene for a precedent-inspired three-step approach to constitutional damages adjudication. This approach is then defended as a transformative constitutional one which squares easily against the notion of constitutional adjudicative subsidiarity.

The 1999 Nigerian Constitution gives the Attorney-General the power to enter a nolle prosequi in criminal proceedings. There are no constitutional provisions that expressly subject the exercise of the constitutional power of nolle prosequi by the Attorney-General to judicial review. This lacuna is being abused, as some Nigerian attorneys-general have, since the coming into force of the Constitution on 29 May 1999, sought sanctuary under it to free persons standing court trial for serious criminal offences through the exercise of nolle prosequi for their selfish interest or political considerations. The pertinent issue is whether the entering of a nolle prosequi in criminal trials in pursuance of the ulterior motives of an Attorney-General is constitutional. This article undertakes comparative analysis of pertinent issues involved in the exercise of nolle prosequi. The methodology is mainly doctrinal analysis of applicable primary and secondary sources. The article argues that the exercise of nolle prosequi for an Attorney-General’s selfish interest or political considerations is unconstitutional. Nigeria should subject the exercise of nolle prosequi to the court’s permission, as practiced in the United States of America and Kenya.

This article analyses to what extent sanctions adopted by regional organisations can help bring about better democratic processes in the region, focusing on the case of the Republic of Guinea. Overthrows are not the only threat to democratisation in Africa. There is a wave of “constitutional coups” or “third-termism” that incumbents have used to extend their term in office with the appearance of legality. However, the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have often remained silent. The article argues that the AU and ECOWAS policy of sanctioning coups until the return to the constitutional order is not sufficient, as coups are still happening in the region today. Instead, international regional organisations should pay more attention to the necessary institutional reforms that are needed to guarantee the democratisation process of African States and must have a stronger response to constitutional coups by adopting targeted sanctions against the individuals responsible for these acts.

Despite multilateral global efforts to improve biodiversity conservation, the African biodiversity range is increasingly facing existential threats. The Red List of Threatened Species (RLTS) adopted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to protect relevant species is not effectively implemented in many African countries. In this study, we identify the legal mechanisms to protect biodiversity at regional and national levels, focusing specifically on Liberia and Nigeria. We also identify the specific drivers of biodiversity loss in sub-Saharan Africa as a framework for formulating context-specific laws. The study highlights the importance of prioritising legislative action reflecting the IUCN’s red list of threatened species and the need to develop local solutions to more contextual challenges. The added relevance of creating specialised agencies to address the crisis of biodiversity loss is also discussed.

Moroccan courthouses are increasingly using videoconferencing technology to connect an accused remotely to a judicial hearing. While videoconferencing is more than just a technological tool, it continues to raise several legal concerns due to the seriousness of the legal rights and principles at stake.

This article examines how videoconferencing technology is faithful in enshrining a natural and effective defence for the accused appearing at a distance. It analyses the transformations generated by this technology both in the ritual framework of the trial and in the perceptions of the various participants in the hearing, which may have an impact on the fairness of the trial and, more generally, on the image of justice.