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16 March 2020 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa
Human Rights week_read more

The Free State Centre for Human Rights in the UFS Faculty of Law invites you to the 2020 Human Rights Week from 17 to 20 March 2020. The programme features a panel discussion, poetry and artistic showcase, an art walkabout, a public lecture, and film screenings. Please see the attached poster. For more information, contact +27 51 401 7216 or FSCHR@ufs.ac.za 

Panel discussion: Africa / Human rights / Transformation 
Judge J Froneman, Judge D Pillay, and Prof T Falola
Date: Tuesday 17 March 2020
Time: 14:00         
Venue: FGG 202, Bloemfontein Campus

Poetry and artistic showcase     
Date: Tuesday 17 March 2020
Time: 16:00 
Venue: House Karee basement, Bloemfontein Campus

Images of Human Rights – Art walkabout      
Date: Wednesday 18 March 2020 
Time: 12:00 
Venue: C208, Mabaleng Building, Bloemfontein Campus

Human Rights film festival: Selection of short films
Date: Wednesday 18 March 2020 
Time: 14:00-16:00 
Venue: C12, Mabaleng Building, Bloemfontein Campus

‘Poppie Nongena’ – screening and discussion
Date: Wednesday 18 March 2020 
Time: 16:00-18:00 
Venue: C12, Mabaleng Building, Bloemfontein Campus

Public lecture – ‘African cultures and human rights’ with Prof T Falola
Date: Friday 20 March 2020
Time: 12:00

News Archive

UFS law students sit in on exceptional case in the Supreme Court of Appeal
2011-09-21

 

At the Supreme Court of Appeal were, from left to right: Dr Beatri Kruger, lecturer in our Department of Criminal and Medical Law at the Faculty of Law; Adv. Ann Skelton, Amicus Curiae instructed by the Restorative Justice Centre; Ms Matsepo Soko, post-graduate student in Criminal Law; and Prof. Annette van der Merwe from the University of Pretoria.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

Fourth-year and master’s-degree students, from our Faculty of Law, had the privilege of attending the hearing of one of their prescribed cases in the module, Criminal Law, namely the State versus Tabethe, in the Supreme Court of Appeal. Apart from the fact that they could attend the hearing, the students were also addressed by experienced legal experts, Adv. Ann Skelton (amicus curiae, instructed by the Restorative Justice Centre) and Prof. Annette van der Merwe from the University of Pretoria, on the broad outlines of the case.

In this case, the accused was found guilty of raping his fifteen-year-old stepdaughter. The court imposed a sentence of ten years’ imprisonment, suspended in full, but with certain conditions. The conditions include 800 hours’ community service and stipulate that the accused has to follow a rehabilitation programme and that he has to give 80% of his income to the family in order to support the victim and her family.
 
This was the first rape case where, in following a restorative justice approach, exceptional conditions were imposed to address the interests of the victim who wants to proceed with her studies. The State appealed against the sentence.
 
Dr Beatri Kruger, lecturer in our Department of Criminal and Medical Law, who prescribed this case for the students, said, ‘The law students were indeed privileged to attend this auspicious and enriching occasion, which provided them with an insightful experience of how the law works in practice.’

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