The lecture scrutinises, as a template, the legality of the executive orders of President Donald Trump and their disregard for the rule of law, the trampling on the interests of other countries, and the corollary contemporary African disregard for and violations of the rule of law which is being systematically tested and routinised in international relations
*Lead photo: Falola after receiving the Honorary D. Law, Calgary
THURSDAY, April 10: Professor Toyin Falola, a recipient of the Honorary Doctor of Law, University of Calgary, will deliver the keynote at the 2025 Recognition of Achievement Ceremony Award, Faculty of Law, University of the Free State, South Africa.
Slated for 6 pm through 8 pm, the lecture titled “The Rule of Law in Contemporary Africa: Foreign Impacts, Local Degenerations and Framework for Change” will hold in the Albert Wessels Auditorium, Bloemfontein Campus, according to Professor Serges Kamga, the Dean of the Faculty of Law of the university.
Speaking to journalists in separate interviews, Falola said he regards rule of law as the bulwark of any democracy. He regards it as a concept that has been institutionalised into every democratic system of government, and its precepts serve to fasten and strengthen the principles of democracy in any system. He emphasized that “whereas there is a predominant focus on the rule of law and its application in municipal law, its existence, application, and challenges as the bedrock of international law is less scrutinized.”
Falola’s lecture argues that the increasing undermining of the rule of law in international politics has affected its contemporaneous adherence in Africa. “The attitude of the forerunners of international institutions in observing international laws they so fought to develop is a deciding factor in the way other countries respond to these rules. When the rules of international law are contravened and depleted by foreign actions or foreign leaders in their locale, the rule of law has been attacked. To Falola, “the response and reaction of the forerunners of these international laws, which is often a spear of recalcitrance, has significant damning effects on how Africa interfaces with the rule of law.”
Falola insists that his lecture does not suggest that Africa takes a back seat in the international scene, nor does it endorse wholesale the template put forward by the Western governments and bodies. Instead, the argument is that when international proponents break these international norms, conventions, and agreements, Africa suffers more from such actions.
The lecture scrutinises, as a template, the legality of the executive orders of President Donald Trump and their disregard for the rule of law, the trampling on the interests of other countries, and the corollary contemporary African disregard for and violations of the rule of law which is being systematically tested and routinised in international relations. To strengthen the institution of the rule of law and its framework, which hinders the buffeting of democracy, Falola offers recommendations for national and continental efforts towards legal and institutional independence.
