By CM Fombad

This is the fourth volume in a series which is based on the Stellenbosch Annual Seminar on Constitutional Law in Africa (SASCA). The aim is to focus on an issue of critical constitutional importance to Africa in its ongoing development of governance founded on constitutionalism and democracy. And that issue is indeed critical. There can be little doubt that the endemic corruption that has spread into every aspect of social, economic, and political life is at the heart of the crisis of constitutionalism in Africa. The only surprise is that it is not until recently that the severity of the problem has attracted the attention it warrants. Most anti-corruption measures over the years have been inadequate, serving merely as symbolic gestures. The African Union’s declaration of 2018 as the ‘African anti-corruption year’, albeit belated, is an open recognition by African governments of the impact corruption will have on the continent unless urgent steps are taken. The key objective of this book is to draw attention to the problem of corruption and the need for remedial action. The complexity of the situation, with all its multi-faceted dimensions, cannot fully be explored in a single work. Nevertheless, the intention to put this matter on the agenda when it was discussed at the 2017 SASCA seminar seems to have worked in that, as noted, the African Union not only declared 2018 a year to combat corruption but also set aside 11 July of every year as an ‘Africa anti-corruption day’.

Oxford, UK; New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. 563p.

By Robert VerBruggen

Antidiscrimination law has become a flashpoint in American political debates once again. With the Supreme Court’s decision striking down affirmative action and a legal campaign against race-conscious “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) programs—a campaign that now enjoys the support of the executive branch—there has been increased attention to how these laws protect not only black, Hispanic, and Native Americans, but also white and Asian Americans. Some on the right have also resuscitated age-old libertarian arguments that antidiscrimination law necessarily violates freedom of association and should be pared back in general. Meanwhile, given ongoing racial gaps in many important outcomes, DEI advocates on the political left have fought to protect and expand race-conscious programs and policies. This report explains the history and current state of play of antidiscrimination law, with a focus on racial discrimination in employment, contracting, housing, and admissions to selective schools and colleges—areas in which interpersonal discrimination can limit access to important opportunities. It also assesses the role of discrimination in racial disparities over time and offers suggestions for reform.

New York: Manhattan Institute, 2025. 26p.

Edited by Avis Whyte, Patricia Tuitt & Judith Bourne

In 1965 the UK enacted the Race Relations Act while the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) opened for signature and ratification. In the US, the changes that brought down the walls of segregation, conveying some equality to black people essentially began with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These ground-breaking instruments marked a commitment—domestically and internationally by the state parties to the ICERD—to address racial injustice and inequality through legal means. Yet, the intervening years reveal the challenges of pursuing racial justice and equality through the medium of law. In recent years, allegations of institutional racism have been levelled against numerous public institutions in the UK, while the rise of populism globally has challenged the ability of law to effect change. This edited collection draws attention to the need to reflect on the persistence of racial inequalities and injustices despite law’s intervention and arguably because of its ‘unconscious’ role in their promotion. It does so from a multiplicity of perspectives ranging from the doctrinal, socio-legal, critical and theoretical, thereby generating different kinds of knowledge about race and law. By exploring contemporary issues in racial justice and equality, contributors examine the role of law—whether domestic or international, hard or soft—in advancing racial equality and justice and consider whether it can effect substantive change.

London: University of Westminster Press, 2024. 222p.

By Margaret Love

This report deals with a form of relief from the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction that is less far-reaching than expungement or other forms of record clearing, but is potentially available to more people at an earlier point in time. These so-called “certificates of relief” do not limit public access to a person’s record, but they may be effective in reducing many conviction-related disadvantages in the workplace, including by providing employers and others with protection against the risk of being sued for negligence. At least as long as expungement and sealing remain unavailable to many people with a felony conviction record, or are available only after lengthy waiting periods, certificates of relief can provide an important addition to a state’s reentry scheme, and serve as a bridge to more thorough forms of record relief like expungement. We believe that, rather than competing as alternative forms of relief, certificates and expungement can operate as complementary parts of a structured system of serially available criminal record relief. Yet it appears that certificates have been largely ignored in many states by courts that are empowered to dispense them, as well as by the advocacy community whose clients might benefit from them. State court systems have failed to collect, track, or aggregate basic data like the number of certificate applications, grants, and denials, a failure that makes it almost impossible to evaluate a certificate’s effectiveness in a given state. At the same time, in a promising development, certificates are being used by prison and parole agencies to facilitate reentry for those exiting prison or completing supervision. Given the perceived limits of record clearing as a comprehensive reentry strategy, social science researchers have become interested in studying the effect of laws that aim to increase the positive information about individuals with a criminal record to counter the negative effect of the record itself. This report is intended to support these research efforts by describing the state of the law relating to certificates of relief in the 21 states that now offer them. A follow-up study will look at the state of executive pardoning

Washington, DC: Collateral Consequences Resource Center (CCRC), 2024. 42p.