Fact and information sheets

Fact sheet 27: Sub-national law enforcement and oversight in four African countries: Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia | by Janelle Mangwanda Fact sheet 27: Sub-national law enforcement and oversight in four African countries: Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia | by Janelle Mangwanda

Sub-national law enforcement (when properly organised) supplements the work of national police at a local level by strengthening community-police relations and allowing for the swift response to emergency situations. However, this is only possible if each local law enforcement agency has, amongst others, formal standardised training, independent budgets, and existing effective mechanisms for public complaints, oversight and monitoring. This Fact Sheet provides a situational analysis of sub-national law enforcement in two west African countries, one east African and one southern African country; namely, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Zambia and highlights some of the challenges present in each context, particularly with regards to enforcement targeted at those working within public spaces.

Fact sheet 26: Public Spaces & Informal Work: Principles and Approaches to Law & Policy-Making | by Kristen Petersen Fact sheet 26: Public Spaces & Informal Work: Principles and Approaches to Law & Policy-Making | by Kristen Petersen

Public space forms the setting for a number of activities, including the setting for community life and livelihoods of the urban poor, such as street vendors or waste-pickers. There is growing evidence pointing to the problematic way in which public space is governed. In many developing countries, laws and policies, particularly at a local government level, tend to restrict the ability of people to earn a livelihood or perform life-sustaining activities in public spaces. Contravention of local ordinances or by-laws is frequently treated as a criminal offence, compromising informal dwellers and workers’ livelihoods, denying due process protections and often violating their human rights. In this factsheet, we contextualise how laws and policies result in the criminalisation of the poor and consider principles that are fundamental to good policy-making.

Fact Sheet 9: Failing to discipline in SAPS

Recent media reports showed again how police officials grossly misused their power and, against departmental prescripts, used a 'sjambok' to assault a man for apparently not wearing a mask. Such reports are not isolated and have a very direct impact on trust in the police and thus the legitimacy of the police. The core of the problem seems to be twofold (1) that SAPS managers are not enforcing the internal disciplinary code, and (2) the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) very rarely prosecutes police officials, especially for human rights violations. We have updated ACJR Fact sheet 9 (originally published in February 2019) with statistics for the past two financial years and it appears that the situation has worsened. This does not bode well for general trust in the state and specifically in the police. There is little sense in tough talk about law enforcement when the police themselves are not being held accountable and increasingly regarded as hostile to the general public.

Folha Informativa 15 (Port.): Policiamento Democrático: Um Quadro Conceptual

Esta folha informativa discute o policiamento democrático como significando: (1) a obediência da Polícia ao Estado de Direito, (2) a responsabilização da Polícia, e (3) a justiça processual por parte da Polícia ao serviço do público. Nove dimensões necessárias ao policiamento democrático são identificadas, sendo que o resultado final pretendido é a confiança pública na Polícia, algo que resulta da sua legitimidade. O quadro conceptual apresentado não se destina apenas a descrever o policiamento democrático, mas também a orientar o planeamento estratégico nas organizações policiais, incluindo a Polícia da República de Moçambique (PRM).

Fact Sheet 17: The right of prisoners to vote in Africa (Updated)

This fact-sheet provides a brief update on the right of prisoners to vote in Africa. There have been substantive advances and breakthroughs in the promotion of this right as courts in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and most recently in Uganda have granted prisoners the right to vote. In Mozambique, the Ombudsman has made a recommendation that measures be put in place to allow prisoners to vote in future elections. The enfranchisement of prisoners is a positive step in the promotion of their basic human rights, it is therefore important that countries on the continent that are still lagging behind consider the above examples and follow suit.

Fact Sheet 25: Arrest without a warrant in Malawi

This fact sheet deals with arrest without a warrant in Malawi. Currently in Malawi there remain laws on the statutes that have not been tested against constitutional requirements resulting in all likelihood in arrests that are not compliant with the Constitution.

Fact Sheet 25: Arrest without a warrant in Malawi

This factsheet focuses on arrest without a warrant in Malawi. Currently in Malawi there remain laws on the statutes that have not been tested against constitutional requirements resulting in all likelihood in arrests that are not compliant with the Constitution.

Fact Sheet 24: Arrest without a warrant in Kenya

This fact sheet focuses on arrest without a warrant in Kenya. Currently in Kenya the situation has been complicated by the legislative powers granted to the counties and some have used this opportunity to expand policing powers.

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