Amicus curiae interventions have contributed to the development of landmark feminist jurisprudence before domestic and international fora. The work of feminists continues to show how the law is gendered and imagine how a just and equal world can be shaped using the law. This publication is the first of a multi-phase process that seeks to understand the opportunities and challenges of using amicus curiae before domestic courts in the continent. Other phases will provide an in-depth comparative analysis of the practice before the various continental accountability mechanisms. Finally, this project seeks to achieve the development of a model law on amicus curiae to standardise the practice and develop a shared understanding on the role of these briefs.
The development of gender equality jurisprudence remains a contested terrain. Courts struggle to understand substantive equality for women in a range of factors. In the first wave of constitutions
in common law Africa there was the persistent claw-back clause that provided the right to be free from discrimination and proceeded to claw-back on personal and family law. These made a number of
gender discriminatory laws and practices continue thriving.
