Public interest litigation in South Africa

Public Interest Litigation in South Africa offers grounded accounts - by leaders in the field - of the campaigns, cases, and causes that have defined key areas of public interest litigation in the country since the constitutional transition. The authors share their perspectives on the struggles led by people, communities, activists, and civil society organisations to realise the vision of the Constitution. The book shares the legal narratives of those particular struggles in the hope that this will contribute to the broader continuous struggle for social justice. Part One of the book considers the history of public interest litigation, the public interest sector today, public interest litigation in the context of international law, the ethics and politics of public interest litigation, and procedure. Part Two addresses public interest litigation in key areas of law: property rights, gender, basic services, health care, LGBTI equality, children's rights, basic education, freedom of expression, access to information, and prisoners' rights. Public Interest Litigation in South Africa seeks to share more of the stories of what has been achieved in the courts, beyond the well-trodden, landmark appellate decisions, as a contribution to informed and critical engagement.

Table of Contents:
PART I: General themes; Introduction: the past, present and promise of public interest litigation in South Africa Jason Brickhill; The world's law and South African domestic courts: the role of international law in public interest litigation - Max du Plessis and Stuart Scott; The ethics and politics of public interest litigation - Jason Brickhill and Meghan Finn; Constitutional litigation procedure - Georgina Jephson and Osmond Mngomezulu; PART 2: Public interest litigation in key areas of the law; Making space for social change: pro-poor property rights litigation in post-apartheid South Africa - Stuart Wilson; Gender and public interest litigation in post-apartheid South Africa: have `systematic motifs of discrimination' been addressed? - Bonita Meyersfeld and Nomonde Nyembe; Basic services - Jackie Dugard; Health care - Nikki Stein; Happy (n)ever after? Public interest litigation for LGBTI equality - Kerry Williams and Melanie Judge; Children's rights - Ann Skelton; Litigating the right to basic education - Cameron McConnachie and Samantha Brener; Freedom of expression - Dario Milo and Avani Singh; Access to information - Dario Milo and Avani Singh; Public interest litigation and prisoners' rights - Clare Ballard and Frances Hobden.