If you are interested in undertaking doctoral studies at the Centre for Human Rights please contact a potential supervisor to discuss your suggested topic.  More information about the research of the academic staff of the Centre can be found under researchers. Current doctoral students and recent graduates are listed below with their topic and supervisor. Information about supervisors in other departments and their fields of specialisation can be found in the Postgraduate Programmes brochure of the Faculty of Law which also sets out practical information about the programme and how to apply. For administrative enquiries please contact Ms Jeanne-Kay Goodale, e-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Supervisors & Field of Specialisation

• Prof Danny Bradlow
  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
  Field of specialisation: International investment law; International development law; Global economic governance; International financial law

• Prof Charles Fombad
  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
  Field of specialisation: Comparative constitutional law; Media law

• Prof Michelo Hansungule
  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
  Field of specialisation: African Union architecture and human rights; NEPAD/APRM and human rights; Indigenous peoples’ rights; Minorities and human rights in Africa; Development and human rights; Traditional African society and women’s rights

• Prof Christof Heyns
  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
  Field of specialisation: International human rights, in particular in Africa; The comparative protection of human rights in African countries; The legal history of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa; Extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions; The right to life; The right to freedom of assembly

• Dr Magnus Killander
  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
  Field of specialisation: International human rights law; The relationship between domestic law and international human rights law; International institutional law

• Prof Frans Viljoen
  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
  Field of specialisation: International human rights law, particularly related to Africa ; Sexual minority rights in Africa; Implementation of international human rights treaties

• Prof Erika de Wet
  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
  Field of specialisation: Public international law; International human rights; Comparative constitutional law

Current LLD (Human Rights) students

The following students are registered for the LLD at the Centre for Human Rights, under the supervision or co-supervision of staff members of the Centre:

• Aalbaek, Revai
  (supervisor: Prof Erika de Wet; co-supervisor: Prof Christina Murray, UCT)
  A critical comparative analysis of the role and participation of women in constitution-making processes in Zimbabwe and Kenya
• Abdallah, Amir
  (supervisor: Prof Michelo Hansungule)
  Strengthening the right to a fair trial in Sudan: A human rights perspective
• Abebe, Adem
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen; co-supervisor: Dr Magnus Killander)
  The role of human rights litigation in the realisation of human rights in Africa: The case of Ethiopia from a comparative African perspective
• Achan, Patricia
  (supervisor: Prof Michelo Hansungule)
  Equality rights for ethnic minorities through international, regional and national perspectives: A case for the Batwa in Uganda
• Acirokop, Prudence
  (supervisor: Dr Magnus Killander)
  Accountability for mass atrocities – The LRA conflict in Uganda
• Adjolohoun, Horace
  (supervisor: Prof Erika de Wet; co-supervisor Dr Magnus Killander)
  Giving effect to the human rights jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States: Compliance and Influence
• Bekele, Melhik
  (supervisor: Dr Magnus Killander)
  Defending democracy while countering terrorism
• Beredugo, AJ
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen, co-supervisor: Dr Magnus Killander)
  The role of national human rights institutions in advancing the implementation of socio-economic rights
• Biegon, Japheth
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen)
  An analysis of the impact of the resolutions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
• Dinokopila, Bonolo
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen)
  An analysis of the actual and potential role of the Pan-African Parliament in the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa
• Dountio, Joelle
  (supervisor: Prof Steve Cornelius, Department of Private Law; co-supervisor: Dr Magnus Killander)
  Access to medicines: strategic regulation of publicly financed intellectual property rights as a means to facilitate the realisation of the right to health in Africa
• Jegede, Ademola Oluborode
  (supervisor: Prof Michelo Hansungule)
  Human rights implications of climate change on indigenous peoples’ land rights in Africa: challenges and prospects
• Kabumba, Busingye
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen)
  Soft law and the legitimation of international law
• Kameni, Enga
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen)
  Moving beyond the WTO and Trips Considering alternative legal approaches to facilitating access to medicines in selected sub-Saharan African countries
• Keetharuth, B
  (supervisor: Prof Danny Bradlow)
  Communities as victims of human rights violations in mineral rich Katanga (DRC)
• Kopolo, Berita
  (supervisor: Prof Danny Bradlow)
  The role of the extractive industry’s corporate responsibility and liability in the development of Southern Africa
• Lando, Victor
  (supervisor: Dr Magnus Killander
  The domestic impact of sub-regional human rights mechanisms: A case study of the East African Community
• Maja, Innocent
  (supervisor: Prof Michelo Hansungule)
  The human rights protection of minority languages: an African perspective
• Malila, M
  (supervisor: Prof Christof Heyns)
  The concept of duties under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
• Manyatera, G
  (supervisor: Prof Charles Fombad)
  A critique of the judicial appointment mechanisms in Zimbabwe,  South Africa and Kenya and their implications on the independence of the judiciary as a bulwark of good governance and democracy
• Miamingi, Remember
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen)
  Constructing a conception of childhood in Africa: A socio-legal perspective
• Mooki, Mmatsie
  (supervisor: Prof Michelo Hansungule, co-supervisor: Prof Pieter Carsten, Department of Public Law)
  Access to legal abortion in SADC from a reproductive health right perspective: a need for legal and institutional reform
• Munene, Anthony
  (supervisor: Prof Michelo Hansungule)
  Legal and policy obstacles to realisation of the right to development in Kenya
• Nsibirwa, Martin
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen)
  The international obligations of African states to realise women’s rights to political participation and decision-making: Normative elaboration or improved implementation required?
• Nyathi, Mkhululi
  (supervisor: Dr Magnus Killander)
  Shared governance: A model for SADC
• Odo, Godwin
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen)
  Re-conceptualising the promotion and protection of the right to health in the African regional human rights system
• Onuora-Oguno, Azubike
  (supervisor: Prof Michelo Hansungule)
  Impact assessment of global integration on indigenous peoples’ rights
• Ozoemena, Rita
  (supervisor: Prof Michelo Hansungule)
  The transformative role of African human rights systems in achieving sustainable development in the Niger Delta
• Pfumorodz, J
  (supervisor: Prof Danny Bradlow)
  Indirect expropriation under international investment law
• Possi, Ally
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen)
  East African Court of Justice and human rights
• Ramaroson, Mianko
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen)
  Towards a shared responsibility for HIV and AIDS in the workplace: A human rights analysis of the law in Botswana, Madagascar and South Africa
• Shyllon, Lola
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen)
  Access to information as a tool for the realization of socio-economic rights in Africa
• Soyeju, OO
  (supervisor: Prof Danny Bradlow)
  Creative financing for infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa: Its implications for foreign investment inflow, economic growth and development
• Tanoh, Armand
  (supervisor: Prof Danie Brand, Department of Public Law; co-supervisor: Dr Magnus Killander)
  Critical analysis of compliance of west Africa states with ICESCR: the example of the right to education in Benin and Senegal

LLD students who graduated in 2011

• Djoyou Kamga, Serges
  (supervisor: Prof Michelo Hansungule)
  Human rights in Africa: Prospects for the realisation of the right to development under the New Partnership for Africa’s Development
• Lim, Hye-Young
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen)
  Legally recognising child-headed households through a rights-based approach: The case of South Africa
• Murungu, Chacha
  (supervisor: Prof Michelo Hansungule)
  The head of state immunity from prosecution for international crimes: Law and practice in Africa
• Rukare, Donald
  (supervisor: Prof Michelo Hansungule)
  The role of development assistance in the protection and promotion of human rights in Uganda

LLD students who graduated in 2010

• Kaguongo, Waruguru
  (supervisor: Prof Danie Brand)
  The realisation of economic and social rights in Africa with special reference to national budgets
• Mutangi, Tarisai
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen)
  A critical examination of compliance with judgments of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights: Prospects and challenges
• Nkhata, Mwiza
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen)
  Constitutionalism and good governance in Africa: (Re) Discovering the relevance and viability of social trust-based governance in Malawi

LLD students who graduated in 2009

• Killander, Magnus
  (supervisor: Prof Christof Heyns)
  The role of the African Peer Review Mechanism
• Ally, Dane
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen)
  Constitutional exclusion under section 35(5) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996
• Nassali, Maria
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen)
  NGOs, governance and human rights in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa: Conceptual and strategic questions
• Ebobrah, Solomon
  (supervisor: Prof Frans Viljoen)
  Legitimacy and feasibility of human rights realisation through regional economic communities in Africa: The case of the Economic Community of West African States