Constitution

The recent decision by the High Court of Kenya regarding the admission of students from South Sudan advocates of Kenya may not have attracted much attention in Kenya and the East African Community (EAC), but it is all the same a very important one among the many decisions that have been coming from the Kenyan courts recently regarding the implementation of the Treaty Law In Kenya.

Ecuador’s relationship with the Investment Treaty Regime is an unsettled issue deeply contested by dueling actors and narratives battling to annihilate each other. Ecuador is one of the top investment disputes’ respondent. ISDS awards have been particularly detrimental to its public coffers, and the country has attempted a tailored made constitutional approach to limit the reach of ISDS. Yet, none of this has been enough to reach a minimum consensus and understanding regarding the breadth of foreign investment protection. Remarkably, this endless struggle has paved the way for an increasing confluence of players that put in plain display the multiple transnational interests that shape foreign investment protection.

My early analysis of this case suggests it is as significant if not more significant than the Supreme Court of Kenya’s 2017 nullification of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidential election. In addition to the significance of the orders, analysis of this five-judge bench are compelling and make it a landmark judgement not only in Kenya, but beyond.

The Southern Africa Public Law Journal (SAPL) invites authors to submit manuscripts for a special issue that critically evaluates the national and transnational policy and legal instruments aimed at combatting the effects of the pandemic, and more importantly, the impact of such documents on the constitutional rights of African citizens.

The courts, utilising their Constitution given powers, have in certain cases declared foreign policy unconstitutional for being inconsistent with the Constitution. The courts have also interpreted foreign policy in order to bring it in line with the Constitution. In so doing, it can be argued that courts have invariably played a role in the making and implementation of South Africa’s foreign policy.