The Stellenbosch Handbooks in African Constitutional Law series provides a rigorous platform for engaging with contemporary constitutional issues in Africa. It responds to the continent’s complex constitutional journey, from early post-independence democratic experiments that were soon eclipsed by authoritarian regimes, to renewed hopes for constitutional governance following the global wave of democratization in the 1990s.
Despite significant constitutional developments across Africa since 1990, scholarly research in comparative constitutional law has largely centered on long-established democracies, with South Africa being the notable exception within the African context. Existing African scholarship often remains siloed within linguistic or regional boundaries, namely, Anglophone, Francophone and Arabophone, without meaningful cross-comparative analysis. This series seeks to address that gap.
Its core objectives are fourfold:
- To stimulate interest in comparative constitutional research across Africa by presenting current, in-depth analyses that reflect diverse legal traditions;
- To bridge the gap in scholarship by incorporating voices and perspectives from across the continent—Anglophone, Francophone, Arabophone, Lusophone, and Hispanophone;
- To promote inter-African dialogue through comparative approaches that expose shared challenges, good practices, and opportunities for mutual learning; and
- To serve as a long-term repository of constitutional knowledge for academics, students, legal practitioners, and policymakers.
