2017 Conference

Law and Development in High-Income Countries (2017)

The Law and Development Institute and the Centre for Comparative Law in Africa (CCLA), the University of Cape Town, co-hosted the eighth annual conference in law and development. Thirty-seven leading scholars and experts from Africa, North America, Asia, and Europe presented papers over two days on essential law and development topics relevant to Africa, such as legal pluralism and effective governance for development in Africa; law and industrial promotion in Africa; law and natural resources development in Africa; intellectual property rights and development; law, poverty alleviation, and sustainable development; and human rights and conservation.
 
Date: September 7 and 8, 2017
Venue: Belmont Square Conference Centre, Belmont Road, Rosebank, South Africa
 
The conference also hosted a Young Scholars’ Panel composed mainly of Ph.D candidates as an encouragement for the promising young scholars with interests in law and development.
Acknowledgment: the conference organizers gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the TY Danjuma Fund for Law and Policy Development at the University of Cape Town and Walter de Gruyter GmbH for the hosting of the 2017 Law and Development Conference in Cape Town.

Day 1: September 7, 2017

9:00am-9:30amRegistration
9:30am–9:40amIntroductory Remarks by Associate Prof. Ada Ordor, Director of the CCLA, University of Cape Town
9:40am–9:50amOpening Statement by Prof. Y.S. Lee, Director and Professorial Fellow, The Law and Development Institute
9:50am–10:00amWelcome Address by Dean Penny Andrews, Professor of Law and Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town
10:00am–10:30amKeynote Speech by Prof. Dr. Wouter Vandenhole, Chair in Human Rights – UNICEF Chair in Children’s Rights University of Antwerp (Belgium)
“De-growth and Sustainable Development: Rethinking Human Rights Law and Poverty Alleviation”
10:30am–12:10pm

Panel 1: “Legal Pluralism and Effective Governance for Development in Africa”
Chair: Prof. Johan D. van der Vyver, Emory University (USA)

“The African Union Agenda 2063 and the Imperative of Democratic Governance”
Prof. Osy Ezechukwunyere Nwebo, Imo State University (Nigeria)

“Unpacking and Addressing Legal Pluralism in Commonwealth Africa: Towards Enhancing Theoretical Methods of Rule of Law Reform for Holistic Development”
Ms. Elizabeth Bakibinga-Gaswaga, Legal Adviser, Commonwealth Secretariat (London)

“Demand for Law in the African Private Sector: Some Evidence from Tanzania”
Prof. David Finnegan, Western Michigan University (USA)

“A Living Customary Law of Commercial Contracting: Some Law-Related Hypotheses”
Dr. Andrew Hutchison, University of Cape Town, and Mr. Nkanyiso Sibanda, University of the Western Cape (South Africa)

“Access to Justice and Development for Rural Women in Sub-Saharan Africa”
Dr. Adenike Aiyedun (Deputy Director), Access to Justice (Nigeria)

“OHADA and the Making of Transnational Commercial Law in Africa”
Dr. Jonathan Bashi Rudahindwa, SOAS, University of London (UK)

12:10pm–12:30pmQ&A Session
12:30pm–2:00pmLunch (all registered participants)
2:00pm–3:40pm

Panel 2: “Law and Industrial Promotion”
Chair: Prof. Dee Smythe, University of Cape Town

“Law and Development: Lessons from South Korea”
Prof. Y.S. Lee, The Law and Development Institute

“Has It Reinvented Iron Law? South Africa’s Social Industrialisation, Not Iron Industrialisation”
Assistant Prof. TK Pooe, North-West University (South Africa)

“Law-Finance-Growth Nexus in the Context of Africa”
Dr. Horace Yeung, University of Leicester (UK)

“Are East African Countries Contravening WTO Rules by Pursuing Industrial Promotion?”
Mr. George Owuor, Procter & Gamble (Kenya)

“Inclusive Industrialization: An Assessment of Different Legal and Policy Tools that Stimulate the Participation of Small Businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa’s Industrialization”
Ms. Colette Marie Anne van der Ven, Sidley Austin LLP (Geneva Office)

3:40pm–4:00pmQ&A Session
4:00pm–4:20pmCoffee Break
4:20pm–6:00pm

Panel 3: “Intellectual Property Rights for Development”
Chair: Prof. Faizel Ismail, University of Cape Town

“Intellectual Property Rights and Development in Africa: Hindrance or Promotion?”
Prof. Yassine Dourhani, University of Cadi Ayyad (Morocco)

“Infringement as Unfair Competition: A Blueprint for Global Governance?”
Prof. Sean Pager, Michigan State University (USA)

“The Creative Industry and South African Intellectual Property Law”
Prof. Caroline Ncube, University of Cape Town

“The Role of Intellectual Property in Promoting Development within Bio-Resource Rich African Countries: A Case for the Intellectual Property-based Protection of Traditional Knowledge”
Dr. Oluwatobiloba Moody, The Canadian Center for International Governance Innovation (Canada)

“Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights in Nigerian Courts”
Ms. Nkem Itanyi, University of Nigeria (Nigeria)

“Protection of Geographical Indications in Tanzania – Achievements, Challenges and Solutions”
Mr. Essau Abraham Sengo, The College of Business Education (Tanzania)

6:00pm–6:20pmQ&A Session
6:20pm–6:30pmPhoto Session, First Day Closing
7:00pm–9:00pmConference Dinner (all registered participants)

Day 2: September 8, 2017

9:00am–10:25am

Panel 4: “Poverty and Sustainable Development”
Chair: Prof. Y.S. Lee, The Law and Development Institute

“Macro Aid as Locke’s Spur and Reins: Applying Microcredit’s Group Liability Principle to Foreign Aid”
Assistant Prof. Martin Skladany, Pennsylvania State University (USA)

“Impact of Social Security on South Africa’s Transformative Constitutionalism Agenda”
Dr. Mathias Nyenti and Mr. Sebastien Nguluwe, University of Johannesburg (South Africa)

“Law as a Tool for Ensuring Contributions of Small Scale Women Farmers to Food Security in Nigeria”
Assistant Prof. Jelena Vidojević, University of Belgrade (Serbia)

“The (mis)use of Development in International Investment Law: Understanding the Jurist’s Limits to Work with Development Issues”
Ms. Jane Ezirigwe, Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (Nigeria)

“The Recent Labour Relations Amendment Act and Legislative Transformation: A critical Analysis and Race-Based Dynamics for Black Economic Sustainability”
Mr. Lefa Ntsoane, University of South Africa (Nigeria)

10:25am–10:45amQ&A Session
10:45am–12:10pmPanel 5: “Law and Natural Resources”
Chair: Prof. Paul Zwier, Emory University (USA)

“The Protection and Promotion of a People’s Right to Mineral Resources in Africa: International and Municipal Perspectives”
Prof. Johan D. van der Vyver, Emory University School of Law (USA)

“Justifying Water Rights in Nigeria: Fiction or Achievable Panacea?”
Ms. Ijeoma Anozie, Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (Nigeria)

“The Effect of the Politics of Development for Benefit Sharing with Mine Communities in South Africa”
Ms. Anri Heyns, SARChI: Mineral Law in Africa, University of Cape Town

“The ‘Duty’ to Respect Human Rights: Achieving Corporate Liability for Human Rights Violations through the Lens of Article 46 (C) of the Malabo Protocol”
Mr. Omogboyega Abe (Ph.D. candidate), University of Cape Town
12:10pm–12:30pmQ&A Session
12:30pm–2:00pmLunch (all registered participants)
2:00pm–3:40pmPanel 6: “Human Rights and Conservation”
Chair: Prof. Wouter Vandenhole, University of Antwerp (Belgium)

“Wildlife Poaching and Rule of Law in Kenya”
Prof. Paul Zwier, Emory University (USA)

“Biodiversity Conservation and Management: Legal Related Aspects of Indigenous Innovations in Central Africa”
Dr. Joelle Nwabueze, Enugu State University of Science and Technology (Nigeria)

“A Regional Framework to Safeguard Human Rights in Kenya upon an Upsurge of Terrorist Attacks”
Dr. Charles Khamala, Africa Nazarene University Law School (Kenya)

“Towards Gender-Sensitive Development in Africa: An Appraisal of the Role of the African Court and the African Commission in the Protection of Women’s Rights”
Dr. Adebola Olaborede, University of Fort Hare (South Africa)
3:40pm–4:00pmQ&A Session
4:00pm–4:20pmCoffee Break
4:20pm–6:00pmPanel 7: Young Scholars’ Panel
Chair: Associate Prof. Ada Ordor, University of Cape Town

“Intellectual Property Rights and Development”
Mr. Ridwan Lanre Ajetunmobi, Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (Nigeria)

“Law, Development and the Possibility of a Resource-Rich Developmental State in Southern Africa”
Ms. Sara Ghebremusse (Ph.D. candidate), York University (Canada)

“Corruption in Public Procurement in Lesotho”
Ms. Thato Toeba (Ph.D. candidate), University of the Western Cape (South Africa)

“Law as a Catalyst for Stimulating Investor Sentiments among Low to Middle-Income Individuals in the Development of Infrastructure in Nigeria”
Mr. Augustine Arimoro (Ph.D. candidate), University of Cape Town
6:00pm–6:20pmQ&A Session
6:20pm–6:30pmClosing Statement by Prof. Y.S. Lee
7:00pm–9:00pmConference Dinner (all registered participants)