chris-heyns

Perspectives of peaceful assembly Presented by Prof Christof Heyns

Public demonstrations emerged during the 20th Century as a powerful and popular form of political participation and mobilisation. It is a tool which has often been used in the pursuit of freedom, but it has also been used for many other causes. It has in some cases resulted in violence being used by the state, or by participants, or both. The recent events in places such as Hong Kong, Paris and Harare - and, closer to home, on our campus - present the question: How should states respond to peaceful (and not so peaceful) assemblies?

experts meeting s

20 August

The Faculty of Law is currently in the unique position where a number of its professors serve as part-time expert members of United Nations bodies involved in the development of international law.

Two of them will discuss their work and how the appointment procedure works.

This should be of special interest to students who consider a career with an international dimension.

Date: 4 September 2019 | 12:30 – 13:30
Venue: Under the umbrella at the Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa
A light lunch will be served | RSVP: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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The University of Pretoria, working with a global network of research partners (including in Cambridge, Geneva and well-established collaboration with more than a dozen other African universities), recently established a research programme that focuses on violence reduction and securing the right to life in Africa. This is a multi-disciplinary programme that engages in the African context with the aspiration of UN Sustainable Development Goal 16 to establish ‘peaceful societies’.

 

8 August 2019

South Africa is in the process of completing its first National Report within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in addition to presenting its Voluntary National Review at the UN High Level Political Forum in New York in July. The University of Pretoria has over the past six months been working with Stats SA to contribute to South Africa’s reports.

10 June 2019

The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria hosted a public lecture by Clement Voule, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of peaceful assembly and association, and Christof Heyns, member of the UN Human Rights Committee on 4 June 2019.

Mr Voule spoke about his upcoming report to the UN Human Rights Council, on assemblies in the digital age. Prof Heyns spoke about General Comment 37 of the Human Rights Committee on the right of peaceful assembly.