Litigation and legal papers

SECTION27 wins right to use its own name

Posted on May 10th, 2010

Following the initiation of legal proceedings, on 7 May 2010, the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO) has agreed to permit the AIDS Law Project (ALP) to reserve the name SECTION27, incorporating the AIDS Law Project.

CIPRO initially refused to reserve the name, SECTION27, incorporating the AIDS Law Project, explaining as follows, “your proposed name connote government patronage. The wording employed to serve as a name, cannot be allowed and are calculated to cause damage, moreover misleading and damaging”. CIPRO also refused our request on the basis of a comparison with existing names on its database, however, they bore no resemblance to the requested name.

Equal Education v Western Cape Education Department

Posted on April 9th, 2010

On 12 March 2010, the ALP assisted Equal Education in submitting a request to the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) under the Promotion of Access to Information Act. The request sought information on the literacy and numeracy pass rates and average test scores for grades 3 and 6 in the Western

Central Methodist Church vs City of Johannesburg (Loitering Case)

Posted on October 28th, 2009

Documents related to the Central Methodist Church vs City of Johannesburg (Loitering Case)

Naude v The member of the Executive Council, Department of Health, Mpumalanga

Posted on October 21st, 2008

On 21 October 2008 the Labour Court handed down the judgment in the case, Naude v The member of the Executive Council, Department of Health, Mpumalanga. The court found that Naude had been unfairly dismissed, awarded him R100 000 compensation, and costs in ALP’s favour.

This is a victory for all doctors who seek to practice their professional ethically, even where it may go against government policy.

In this case the AIDS denialism of the former Minister for Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and the former MEC for Health in Mpumalanga, Sibongile Manana has once again been found to be unlawful and a violation of rights.

South African Security Forces Union and Others v Surgeon General and Others

Posted on May 16th, 2008

On 15 and 16 May 2008, a ground breaking case on the constitutionality of HIV testing policies that are used to exclude ALL people with HIV from recruitment to, promotion or foreign deployment in the SA National Defence Force was heard in the Pretoria High Court.

The court was asked to declare the blanket exclusion unconstitutional, order the appointment or promotion of individual’s adversely affected by the policy and to order the SANDF to devise a new policy within six months.

NM, SM and LH v De Lille, Smith and New Africa Books

Posted on April 4th, 2007

On Wednesday, 4th April 2007 the Constitutional Court handed down judgment on the case of NM & Others v Charlene Smith, Patricia De Lille, and New Africa Books. The case concerned the publication of the applicants’ full names and HIV status in the biography of Patricia De Lille, authored by Charlene Smith and published by New Africa Books, without their consent.

EN and Others v Government of the Republic of South Africa and Others (Westville)

Posted on April 12th, 2006

Since October 2005 the TAC and the AIDS Law Project (ALP) have assisted HIV positive inmates at Westville Prison in acquiring ARVs that have routinely been refused to them by prison authorities. Situated in Kwazulu Natal, one of the provinces most severely affected by HIV/AIDS, Westville had steadfastly prevented TAC or other NGOs from conducting treatment workshops, treatment literacy programs, or any form of HIV awareness training.