Invitation for Abstract Submissions: Conference on
Reflections on Women's Legal Centre Trust v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others 2023 (1) BCLR 80 (CC): Where to from here?

The Centre for Legal Integration in Africa (CLIA) and the Muslim Personal Law Unit (MPLU), situated within the Department of Private Law at the University of the Western Cape, invite submissions for a symposium critically engaging with the Constitutional Court decision in Women’s Legal Centre Trust v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others 2023 (1) BCLR 80 (CC), handed down on 28 June 2022.
This landmark ruling has provoked both commendation and concern within South Africa’s Muslim communities and legal fraternity. While some regard the judgment as a progressive affirmation of constitutional rights—particularly in relation to gender equality and access to justice—others have expressed apprehension about perceived encroachments on religious and cultural autonomy. As arguably the most far-reaching judicial intervention in the regulation of Muslim personal law since the advent of democracy, this decision has catalysed significant legal reform and scholarly discourse.

The symposium seeks to examine the jurisprudential, social, and normative impact of the judgment. We welcome abstracts from legal academics, practitioners, scholars of religion and culture, and postgraduate students exploring themes such as the implications for legal pluralism, the intersection of constitutional and religious norms, family law reform, gender justice, and the future of Muslim personal law in South Africa.

You are invited to submit an abstract of 250 words to clia@uwc.ac.za, copying Ashraf Booley (abooley@uwc.ac.za), Mohammed Sungay (mhsungay@uwc.ac.za), and Latiefa Manie (lmanie@uwc.ac.za). The deadline for abstracts 15 August 2025. Abstracts should summarise a proposed paper in line with the conference theme. Decisions shall be communicated to authors by 20 August 2025, and draft papers will be due on 1 September 2025.  

Selected papers will be published as a special edition in a DHET accredited journal.

Date of conference: 10 September 2025

Keynotes will be given by Ms Seehaam Samaai, Commissioner at the Northern Cape Commission for Gender Equality and former Director of the Women’s Legal Centre Trust and Dr Dawood Terblanche, Chief Executive Officer of the International Peace College South Africa.

If you have any questions, please contact us. We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Ashraf Booley
Email: abooley@uwc.ac.za

Mohammed Sungay
Email: mhsungay@uwc.ac.za

Latiefa Manie  
Email: lmanie@uwc.ac.za