The Faculty of Law, which houses the Nelson R Mandela School of Law and the UNESCO ‘Oliver Tambo’ Chair of Human Rights (The Chair) is pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the Conference entitled: Cyber Law and Human Rights in the Fourth Industrial Revolution to be held on 23-24 April 2020 at the University of Fort Hare (UFH) in East London.
The main purpose of the Conference is to contextualize the relationship between Cyber Law and Human Rights in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It also seeks to debate if ‘internet switch kill’ is permissible and justified under human rights law. The intended objective is to examine the impact of Cyber Crime and the Protection of Personal Information in the South African context in particular and in Southern African Development Community (SADC) in general.
The Conference is inspired by the vigor shown by the government, in particular, the Presidency, in embracing the Fourth Industrial Revolution by establishing The Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution. President Cyril Ramaphosa said that, the Commission must ‘ensure that our country is in a position to seize the opportunities and manage the challenges of rapid advances in information and communication technology’.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is the game changer and it will have significant impact to the way we live our life including the way we do business. These changes are bound to also have an impact to Human Rights, as we know it today. The Conference seeks to contribute to the public discourse, to contribute to the current debates, and to come up with possible and practical solutions in dealing with futuristic challenges.
The uniqueness of the Conference is the association of the Faculty through the School and the Chair with the leading, not only celebrated South Africans, but international icons: Dr Nelson Mandela and Dr Oliver Tambo, who were determined to transform the country to a human right-oriented government in all aspects of human life. The two icons were committed to the advancement of human rights ‘as an instrument of transforming society to accept and respect democratic values, human dignity, peace and social justice, and to this end, emerge as a national central point and pinnacle for developing a culture of peace, democracy and human rights in South Africa and beyond’. These are the ideals that are undertaken by the Faculty to ensure the preservation of their legacy in the generation of knowledge for socio-political and legal change.
It is with this background that the Faculty is pioneering and organizing a Conference that further seeks to raise questions and debates on the response of the State in giving human rights orientation in the integration of the system of governance and the broader framework of rights. It is this context that seeks to articulate the domestication of the prescripts of the community of nations where the universality of rights vis-a-vis cyber law will examine the role of the State which is characterised by diversity of stakeholders.
A call is made to all interested participants for the submission of abstracts of papers that relate to the theme of the Conference under, but not limited to the following sub-themes:
• Cyber Crime and Security Law, Policy and Governance in South Africa and/or in SADC including BRICS.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics Law.
• The Fourth Industrial Revolution through the Prism of Human Rights.
• Preserving Human Rights and Sustainable Partnerships in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
• Legal Framework and E-Commerce, Protection of Personal Data.
Participants are expected to submit ABSTRACTS of between 350-500 words not later than 30thSeptember 2019. These abstracts will be subjected to a blind peer review process and the authors will be advised of the outcomes of the process on 29thNovember 2019.
All abstracts and enquiries should be sent to Advocate Vuyo Booysen at: vbooysen@ufh.ac.za.
Conference registration fee: R3000.00 per delegate, payable on or before 31st October 2019.
Please deposit the amount, quoting REFERENCE: P735 and NAME at:
The University of Fort Hare
Bank: First National Bank
Account Number: 62008303357
Branch Code: 211-021
Branch: Vincent Park