Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS)

Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS)
Name	Centre for Applied Legal Studies
Native name	CALS
Founded	1978
Location	Johannesburg, South Africa
Fields	Human rights law; Public interest law; Social justice

Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) is a public interest law clinic and research centre based in Johannesburg, South Africa, affiliated with University of the Witwatersrand. CALS engages in strategic litigation, policy advocacy, legal research and community lawyering on issues including apartheid, human rights, refugee crisis, HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, land reform, labour law, and access to justice.

History

CALS was established in 1978 amid the late Apartheid era alongside institutions like Black Sash, South African Council of Churches, Transvaal anti-apartheid actors and contemporaneous initiatives such as Legal Resources Centre and Human Rights Commission (South Africa). Early work intersected with events including the Soweto Uprising, the State of Emergency (South Africa, 1985–1990), and the activities of figures like Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Govan Mbeki, and Oliver Tambo. During the transition period surrounding the Negotiated Settlement to end Apartheid, CALS contributed to constitutional reform debates alongside bodies such as the Constitutional Assembly, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Constitutional Court of South Africa and policy actors like Frederik Willem de Klerk and Thabo Mbeki. In the post-apartheid era CALS engaged in litigation and advocacy addressing issues linked to the Population Registration Act, Group Areas Act, Bantu Education Act, and social rights challenges similar to those litigated in cases like Government of the Republic of South Africa v Grootboom, Minister of Health v Treatment Action Campaign, and Mazibuko v City of Johannesburg. Over decades CALS has collaborated with international partners including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, and regional networks such as the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and Southern African Litigation Centre.

Mission and Objectives

CALS’s mission aligns with the aims of progressive legal entities such as International Commission of Jurists, Global Fund for Women, UN Human Rights Council, and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Objectives include strategic impact litigation similar to cases before the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, policy interventions at forums like the African Union, advocacy in spaces including the South African Parliament, and community-based legal empowerment comparable to initiatives by Médecins Sans Frontières and Doctors Without Borders on health rights. CALS pursues equality and non-discrimination principles reflected in instruments like the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the South African Bill of Rights.

Key Programs and Projects

Key programs mirror global projects such as Project Hoosier, Right to Housing Project, and collaborate with organizations like Treatment Action Campaign, Section27, Black Lawyers Association, Treatment Action Campaign v Minister of Health, Legal Aid South Africa, Public Interest Law Initiative, and Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa. Project themes include refugee protection akin to Omar v Minister of Home Affairs matters, health law similar to Minister of Health v Treatment Action Campaign, housing rights tied to Grootboom, labour rights linked to National Union of Mineworkers, and violence against women paralleling work by Women’s Legal Centre. CALS conducts strategic litigation, public interest lawyering, community education akin to Legal Resources Centre outreach, and litigates matters touching on statutes like the Immigration Act (South Africa), Rental Housing Act, Labour Relations Act, and Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act.

Legal Advocacy and Impact Litigation

CALS engages in impact litigation similar in ambition to landmark matters before the Constitutional Court of South Africa and comparative cases in jurisdictions such as Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, India, and Brazil. Cases have confronted administrative justice issues under Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, health rights under statutes referenced in Treatment Action Campaign, and housing matters echoing Government of the Republic of South Africa v Grootboom. Advocacy strategies draw on precedents from European Court of Human Rights, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and jurisprudence of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. Litigation partners have included Southern Africa Litigation Centre, Legal Resources Centre, Section27, Black Sash, Corruption Watch, Centre for Human Rights (University of Pretoria), and international counsel from firms engaged in public interest law.

Research and Publications

CALS publishes working papers, legal briefs, policy submissions and reports comparable to outputs by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, International Crisis Group, Open Society Justice Initiative, Brookings Institution, Institute for Security Studies (South Africa), and university law clinics at Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Columbia Law School, and London School of Economics. Research areas include comparative constitutionalism referencing scholars and texts associated with Jack Greenberg, Dame Mary Arden, Aharon Barak, Cass Sunstein, Helen Suzman, and institutions like Constitutional Court of South Africa. Publications inform policymaking at bodies such as the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (South Africa), South African Human Rights Commission, United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and regional mechanisms.

Partnerships and Funding

CALS partners with academic units including University of the Witwatersrand School of Law, University of Cape Town Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria Faculty of Law, and global networks like International Bar Association, International Association of Refugee Law Judges, African Bar Association, Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, European Commission, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, African Development Bank, Rockefeller Foundation, Echoing Green, Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and philanthropic legal funds. Collaborative projects involve NGOs such as Treatment Action Campaign, Section27, Legal Resources Centre, Amnesty International South Africa, Corruption Watch, Black Sash, National Institute for Crime and the Law (NICL), and regional entities like Southern African Development Community programs.

Governance and Staff

Governance follows models from university-affiliated centres like Centre for Human Rights (University of Pretoria), with boards and directors similar to leadership structures in Legal Aid South Africa and Constitutional Court Trust. Senior staff have included litigators, academics and activists comparable to profiles such as George Bizos, Duma Nokwe, Zackie Achmat, Vusi Pikoli, Pius Langa, Sandile Ngcobo, Albie Sachs, and Yvonne Mokgoro. The centre trains postgraduate fellows and works with visiting scholars from institutions like Harvard Law School, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Yale University, Columbia University, New York University School of Law and engages with professional bodies including Law Society of South Africa and General Council of the Bar of South Africa.

Category:Legal organisations based in South Africa