HSF Briefs

Last Friday, 8 April 2016, the Minister of Justice and others filed papers in the Constitutional Court. They are appealing the Supreme Court of Appeal’s finding that government’s failure to take steps to arrest and detain, for surrender to the ICC, Mr Al-Bashir when he visited South Africa in 2015 was unlawful.

The extent of democratic consolidation is not manifest in tranquil times. It becomes visible in testing times. Choices made then determine whether the quality of democracy improves or deteriorates. Crises rule out the option of continuing business as usual

This Brief looks at the science behind marijuana and discusses that marijuana is not as bad as Governments want us to think.

Charles Simkins looks at Brazil and the dire straits the country finds itself in, drawing instructive comparisons between the political and economic situations of South Africa and our troubled BRICS partner.

On more than one occasion Helen Suzman spoke out against arbitrary and abusive laws criminalising the production and use of marijuana. In this series of briefs, we revisit these issues in three parts. In the first brief, Matthew Kruger provides some context, by commenting on the prosecution of a married couple for their production and personal use of medical marijuana. He also explores the neglected value of freedom, explaining that sometimes the state can only fulfill its duty to respect and protect our rights by leaving us alone. In the second brief, Arvitha Doodnath considers the science relating to and social impact of marijuana and debunks some common myths. The series concludes with Kimera Chetty considering how we should go about regulating actions that do in fact negatively affect the interests of others, but whose criminal prohibition would also cause harm to individuals and the community.

This brief deals with marital surname changes of women