The Pretoria University Law Press (PULP) is proud to announce the winner of the Christof Heyns Memorial Thesis Award 2022. The award for the best thesis by an African doctoral candidate completed in 2021, goes to Dr Macaulay Chairman Okoloise.
The Memorial Thesis Award was introduced to honour the memory of the late Professor Christof Heyns, who passed away in March 2021. Professor Heyns was a founder of the Pretoria University Law Press and took the initiative towards the introduction of this prize. This prize underlines his exceptional passion for promoting scholarship and a life devoted to initiating innovative ideas to make the world a better place for all. There can be no better way to begin to recognise the enormous contribution that Professor Heyns has made to advancing scholarship, research, and publication in Africa, by Africans, and on Africa.
The prize was awarded based on the assessment of a panel consisting of Professor MO Mhango (chairperson); Associate Professor G Mogomotsi (panelist member); and Dr I Shale (panelist member). The criteria used by the panel include the inherent quality of the research, as well as the relevance of the topic to African challenges, and the originality of the approach and research findings. PULP received entries from the University of Cape Town, the University of Stellenbosch, the University of the Witwatersrand, the University of Pretoria, and the University of Johannesburg.
The winning thesis, by Dr Macaulay Chairman Okoloise, is titled “The Role of the African Human Rights System Advancing Corporate Accountability in the Extractive Industries”, and was completed under the supervision of Professor Magnus Killander. The degree was awarded by the University of Pretoria.
The runner-up thesis, by Dr Irene Thomas, is titled “The Application Of The Principle Of Complementarity In The Relationship Between The African Court And The African Commission Under The Regional African Human Rights System”, and was completed under the supervision of Professor Annika Rudman. The degree was awarded by the University of Stellenbosch.
The winner and runner-up both have the option to publish their theses as a monograph by PULP, as part of the award. In addition to the option of publishing with PULP, Dr Macaulay Chairman Okoloise receives a R10 000 cash prize, and Dr Irine Thomas receives a cash prize of R5 000.
Applications for the Christof Heyns Memorial Thesis Award for theses completed in 2022 will be invited soon. More information will be provided in due course.
Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to all the entrants.
Pretoria University Law Press (PULP)