Panel discussion on African Jurisprudence: opening event of the 'Law and Politics in Three Courts' conference

The Bonavero Institute is delighted to host a conversation with John Ambani (Strathmore, Kenya), Joel Modiri (Pretoria, South Africa) and Khomotso Moshikaro (Cambridge, UK) of their work on constitutional law in Kenya and South Africa, and on which pedagogical questions and methods are appropriate for teaching and writing about legal philosophy on the African continent. The discussion will be moderated by Achas Burin (Oxford, UK).

This is the opening event of the ‘Law and Politics in Three Courts’ Conference and is followed by a drinks reception to which all are invited.

Joel Modiri, John Ambani and Khomotso Moshikaro ask the foundational questions that trouble anybody working in jurisprudence in an African context: What are the main themes in African jurisprudence? Is ‘African jurisprudence’ an appropriate denominator for the field of study? How, if at all, is jurisprudence by the likes of Hart and Dworkin relevant to countries in Africa? What are the standards that African jurisprudence should be held to, and does the answer differ depending on whether the work emanates from a university in the Global North or the Global South? How should we teach jurisprudence in universities, wherever they may be located?

There follows a Q&A with the audience, and then a drinks reception to which all are welcome to attend.

Dr John Asogo Ambani is a Senior Lecturer at Strathmore Law School, and Editor -in -Chief Strathmore Law Journal. He is an African Governance Scholar.

 

 

 

 

Joel Malesela Modiri is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Jurisprudence at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He holds an LLB cum laude, and his PhD thesis was entitled The Jurisprudence of Steve Biko: A Study in Race, Law and Power in the ‘Afterlife’ of Colonial-apartheid. He mainly teaches in the fields of Social Theory, Race and Law, and Legal Philosophy. 

 

 

 

 

Khomotso Moshikaro completed his LLB at the University of Pretoria  He then went to Oxford University (Wadham College) where he completed a Bachelor of Civil Laws and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies. He worked as a law clerk in the Constitutional Court of South Africa and as a researcher at the South African International and Advanced Constitutional Law Institute (SAIFAC) before being appointed a Lecturer in Private Law at the University of Cape Town. His areas of interest are legal theory, constitutional law, criminal law, property law, unjustified enrichment and civil procedural theory. He teaches jurisprudence, property law and selected topics in criminal law and statutory interpretation. He has also convened and taught on Foundations of South African Law, Constitutional Law and Social Justice and the Constitution. He is currently reading for a PhD on the Morality of the State Labelling Criminal Offenders at the University of Cambridge (Trinity College). 

 

 

Achas Burin is the Lord and Lady McNair Early Career Lecturer in Law at Somerville College, Oxford. She is also a practising barrister. She grew up in Kenya, where part of her family are from, before moving to England, where the other half live.