Category: Mark Kende

This op-ed might be of interest to the readership: http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2010/0610/Beyond-World-Cup-soccer-savvy-US-should-look-to-South-Africa-on-Supreme-Court-nominations

South Africa has had a problem with outbreaks of violence against foreigners in the last few years. This is especially distressing given the nation’s legacy of oppressing groups based on their backgrounds. These developments also pose real challenges to the nation’s hopeful and progressive constitution.

The U.S. Supreme Court confirmation process has become increasingly polarized. While the system in other countries is not free of problems, things in the U.S. reached a new low lately when several prominent news commentators essentially called on Court nominee Elena Kagan to address whether she is gay or not (Maureen Dowd in the New…

An important new book on socio-economic rights has just been published. The book is called “Socio-Economic Rights –Adjudication Under a Transformative Constitution.” It’s published by JUTA press. The author is Sandra Liebenberg, the Harry F. Oppenheimer Chair in Human Rights Law at the University of Stellenbosch Law School in South Africa.

As a follow up to my earlier post on this topic, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court has recently upheld the nation’s controversial anti-blasphemy law. To quote Chris Blake from the Associated Press, “The court ruled…that the 1965 law, which allows for criminal penalties and bans on people or groups that “distort” the central tenets of six officially…

The Indonesian Constitutional Court is holding a hearing on the legality of the nation’s 1965 Blasphemy Law. The law officially acknowledges six religions: Buddhism, Catholicism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, and Protestantism. It also essentially prohibits “religious based activities” that “resemble the religious activities of the religion in question, where such interpretation and activities are in deviation…

South Africa has gone through a rough few weeks recently with racial issues at the forefront that touch on constitutional questions. The controversial leader of the African National Congress youth league, Julius Malema, has included a sing-along with his speeches. He uses an anti-Apartheid song that contains the lyric “shoot the Boers” and other similar…

Legislation has been introduced in Quebec to ban women from covering their faces when seeking or providing provincial services. This would effectively prevent Muslim women needing such services from wearing the niquab, a veil that covers the face. Supporters argue this promotes gender equality and more open interactions between the province’s citizens.