CARMEL RICKARD: Sadc’s new tribunal lacks clout
Sadc’s new tribunal lacks the clout of its predecessor, but it’s heartening to see it set right some injustices arising from the disbanding of that body
CARMEL RICKARD: Sex and justice in UK courts
The UK courts regularly hear claims for asylum from those persecuted for their sexual orientation. An SA woman’s case is among the most recent
CARMEL RICKARD: Covid dodge defeated
Uganda’s high court has found that the minister of energy used the lockdown to bypass due process to push through a new electricity regulation
CARMEL RICKARD: Kenya’s gender battle
The chief justice has advised that parliament be dissolved after its repeated failure to give effect to a rule on gender representivity
CARMEL RICKARD: Judges must speak out against injustice
It’s concerning when judges stay silent in the face of horrific crimes, limiting their response to a mechanical interpretation of the law
CARMEL RICKARD: A legal slapp down
The Canadian supreme court has ruled against a developer for using the courtroom as a means of stifling democratic expression
CARMEL RICKARD: US gets selective in lawfare
The US decision to sanction International Criminal Court lawyers undermines an investigation into allegations of crimes by its own military in Afghanistan
CARMEL RICKARD: Collision course between executive and judiciary
Courts have set aside election results and forced a re-run in two African countries, ramping up tensions between the executive and judiciary
CARMEL RICKARD: Justice delayed as court backlogs take on monstrous proportions
A decision against a ‘virtual trial’ may have implications for the administration of justice during the pandemic — and add to backlogs in SA’s courts
CARMEL RICKARD: SA’s judiciary on the wrong side of the law
When it comes to the court of public opinion, SA’s judiciary isn’t rated particularly highly, according to an Afrobarometer survey
CARMEL RICKARD: Zimbabwe’s wall of silence
A lack of written judgments in Zimbabwean courts has serious implications for accountability and the protection of citizens’ constitutional rights
CARMEL RICKARD: Pay first, talk later?
Uganda’s supreme court should clear up confusion about the constitutionality of tax appeal prepayments, says the deputy chief justice
CARMEL RICKARD: A step too far in bizarre Lesotho Covid case
A Lesotho high court judge has found in favour of an errant debtor while also making short shrift of his ‘untenable’ claim about courts and the Covid crisis
CARMEL RICKARD: Uganda’s legal institutions flex their muscles
Uganda’s tax tribunal has found the revenue authority to be ‘outrageous in its defiance of logic’ in a tangle over an outstanding assessment
CARMEL RICKARD: Crime crossover
A $2bn fraud perpetrated in Denmark is playing out in UK courts, where the Danish tax authority is suing more than 90 defendants
CARMEL RICKARD: Auditor BDO taken to task by Zim court
International auditor BDO has been taken to task by a Zimbabwean court for a forensic report that was either biased, or ‘a case of incompetence’
CARMEL RICKARD: Time tells against regulator in Uganda tax fraud case
A tax fraud case in Kenya has been stopped because the decision to charge the offender predated the revenue authority’s demand for payments
CARMEL RICKARD: When it’s impossible to hold an AGM
There is a workaround if company AGMs in Uganda can’t take place as stipulated, thanks to a provision in the country’s Companies Act
CARMEL RICKARD: SA divers in at the deep end after UK tax ruling
A supreme court ruling in the UK will make tax matters tricky for SA divers who work there. One, at least, could be on the hook for as much as R4m
