An effective, accountable National Prosecutions Authority needs at least two things: structural independence and competent personnel with expertise and integrity.
The appointment of South Africa’s national prosecutions head Shaun Abrahams has been declared invalid.
EPA/Nic Bothma
Will 12 Russians indicted for hacking the 2016 US election ever come to trial? They may not, but the indictments themselves are an important step in the effort to determine the truth of what happened.
President Trump, Neil Gorsuch and wife Marie Louise and Justice Anthony Kennedy.
AP/Alex Brandon
With Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement, President Trump will appoint a second justice to the Supreme Court. Will his nominees be impartial if Trump ends up in the court because of the Russia probe?
Greek tragedies shed light into human nature’s darker corners. They can also illuminate the character of former FBI chief James Comey, whose unbending adherence to principles evokes ancient themes.
Trump with Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.
EPA/Jim Lo Scalzo
Donald Trump is far from the first president to politicise the judiciary, but the way he’s going about it is uniquely dangerous.
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. Which one of them does the criminal justice system support?
EPA-EFE/Cornell Tukiri
Cyril Ramaphosa is likely to emphasise stability - in government and the ANC. Given his history he is likely to want to stabilise the economy rather than pursue radical interventions.
Anglophone Cameroonians want to secede from the Francophone part of the country.
Erin Alexis Randolph/Shutterstock
Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis that’s pitted its English speaking citizens against the central government could result in the country being denied preferential trade agreements with the US.
Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, center.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
It’s still unclear whether Zimbabwe will manage an effective transition to participatory democracy and freedom. And the current signs are not encouraging.
Protesters at a rally outside parliament in preparation ahead of the proposed impeachment of President Robert Mugabe.
Kim Ludbrook/EPA
A week after the army issued its limp-wristed and ambiguous statement that Mugabe should go, he remains in place, and a new avenue - impeachment - is being pursued to get rid of him.
South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court Decision to reinstate almost 800 criminal charges against President Zuma.
GCIS
The Supreme Court of Appeal judgment means that South Africa’s president must be prosecuted - unless the national director of public prosecutions decides again to drop the charges against him.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast
Professor in Law and Co-Convener National Security Hub (University of Canberra) and Research Fellow (adjunct) - The Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa, Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University- NATO Fellow Asia-Pacific, University of Canberra