OUVRAGE : F. Viljoen, C. Fombad, D. Tladi, A. Skelton, M. Killander (eds.), A life interrupted. Essays in honour of the lives and legacies of Christof Heyns

Frans VILJOEN, Charles FOMBAD, Dire TLADI, Ann SKELTON, Magnus KILLANDER

This volume of essays, A life interrupted: essays in honour of the lives and legacies of Christof Heyns, honours Christof Heyns, renowned human rights lawyer, advocate, activist and educator, but also down-to-earth family man, friend and colleague. Christof ’s sudden and most untimely passing on 28 March 2021 deeply saddened those close to him but also evinced an outpouring of grief from the national and international human rights community. His passing brought a deep sense of loss, in part because, at age 62, he was fully engaged in contributing to the betterment of society and still had so much more to give. His is a life interrupted. But at the same time, looking back over the varied lives he lived, he had already left his mark in so many ways. His influences and impacts are manifold and magical. This collection not only testifies to the legacy that he has left us, but also to the ongoing efforts of many to continue building on his legacy.

This collection contains two sets of essays by family members, friends, colleagues, collaborators and students. Part A contains essays of a more reflective and personal nature, while the contributions in Part B link to the scholarly or academic themes Christof had worked on and explored, including international human rights systems, international law, the right to life, freedom of association, international humanitarian law, the impact of human rights treaties, constitutionalism and legal philosophy. However, a neat distinction between the personal and professional is not possible in respect of such a warm, generous and enthusiastic person as Christof. Most of the essays in Part A integrate some of Christof ’s professional and academic achievements, while many of the essays in Part B also reflect on Christof as a person.

The publication date of this book is 10 January 2022, which is the date marking 63 years since Christof’s birth. The publisher is the Pretoria University Law Press (PULP), of which Christof was also a founder.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editors’ introduction

A. LIFE STORIES

1. Fearika Heyns, Willemien Rust, Adam Heyns, Christof as husband and dad
2. Murray Hofmeyr, Christof as friend
3. Tawana Kupe, Christof Heyns: a Renaissance man’s living legacies
4. Norman Duncan, Christof and the University of Pretoria
5. Duard Kleyn, André Boraine, Elsabe Schoeman, Christof and the Faculty of Law
6. Johann van der Westhuizen, The place of Christof Heyns in the history of the Centre for Human Rights
7. Charles Fombad, Christof at ICLA
8. Murray Hofmeyr, Prince Mbetse, Danie Brand, Christof and SASVO
9. Bongani Majola, Carole Viljoen, Khashane Manamela, Christof and the Integrated Bar Project
10. Ademola Oluborode Jegede, Annette Lansink, Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua, Christof and the HRDA
11. Frans Viljoen, Joe Kilonzo, Christof as doctoral supervisor
12. Frans Viljoen, Keketso Kgomosotho, Thompson Chengeta, Nyambeni Davhana, Christof and mooting
13. Magnus Killander, ch, the editor
14. Danwood M Chirwa, Christof Heyns as visionary, teacher, mentor and independent human rights expert
15. Nazila Ghanea, Andrew Shacknove, Kate O’Regan, Christof in Oxford
16. Cecile Aptel, Thomas Probert, Yuval Shany, Yasmin Sooka, Christof at the UN
17. Johan D van der Vyver, Christof Heyns and the ‘War against Terror’

B. A LIFE’S WORK
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEMS

18. Michael K Addo, The Addis Ababa Road Map, independent human rights experts and the realisation of human rights ideals
19. Magnus Killander, Legitimacy, cost and benefit of international human rights monitoring
20. Frans Viljoen, Trailblazer of institutional and normative pathways on the African human rights landscape

African international law

21. Chris Maina Peter, Africa: influencing aspects of theory and practice in international law
22. Hennie Strydom, The evolution of the UN-AU peace and security partnership
23. Dire Tladi with John Dugard, The African Union’s right to intervene and the right to life: tension or concordance?

Right to life

24. Stuart Casey-Maslen, Police use of force
25. Thomas Probert, Accounting for life: the role of counting and data in the protection of the right to life and the pursuit of safety
26. Jay D Aronson, Science, technology, and human rights

Freedom of assembly

27. Clément N Voule, Ona Flores, Protecting the right to peaceful assembly for today and the future
28. Michael Hamilton, Ella McPherson, Sharath Srinivasan,  ‘Deal with me, here I stand!’: presence, participation and the equal protection of online assemblies
29. Ann Skelton, Children being civilly disobedient: peaceful assembly and international children’s rights
30. Beryl Orao, Facilitating and protecting the right of peaceful assembly of persons with disabilities

International humanitarian law

31. Thompson Chengeta, Is the Convention on Conventional Weapons the appropriate framework to produce a new law on autonomous weapon systems?
32. Sarah Mabeza, Christof as Pan-African humanitarian lawyer

Impasct of United nations human rights treaties

33. Vincent Ploton, ‘Digital shift’: what have the UN treaty bodies achieved, and what is still missing?
34. Rachel Murray, The ‘implementation’ in ‘National Mechanisms for Implementation, Reporting and Follow-up’: what about the victims?
35 Başak Çalı, UN treaty body views: a distinct pathway to UN human rights treaty impact?

Constitutionalism

36. Danie Brand, Socio-economic rights in South Africa: the ‘Christof Heyns clause’
37. Trésor Muhindo Makunya, The application of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights in constitutional litigation in Benin

Legal philosophy

38. Karin van Marle, Struggle, refusal, narrative

Frans VILJOEN, Charles FOMBAD, Dire TLADI, Ann SKELTON, Magnus KILLANDER (eds.), A life interrupted. Essays in honour of the lives and legacies of Christof Heyns, Pretoria, Pretoria University Law Press, 2022 (503 pp.)