Dr. Adrian Jjuuko is a Ugandan human rights lawyer, researcher and consultant. He is the founder and Executive Director of Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF). HRAPF operates the first and only specialised legal aid clinic for marginalized persons in Uganda, and has been instrumental in carrying out advocacy and strategic litigation against laws that violate or threaten the rights of LGBTI persons and other minorities in Uganda. He holds an LLD from the University of Pretoria, and his research LLD thesis is titled ‘Beyond court victories: Using strategic litigation to stimulate social change in favour of lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons in Common Law Africa.’ He also holds an LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa from the University of Pretoria, an LLB from Makerere University Kampala, Uganda, and a postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre, Kampala. He is an author of three books, five journal articles and a contributor to an encyclopedia. He has delivered talks/lectures on his work at leading universities around the world, including Harvard Law School, University of Pretoria, University of Toronto and University of Bergen. He is a consultant facilitator at human rights trainings. His research interests are in the areas of: LGBTI rights, democracy and human rights, the right to health, and children’s rights.

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  • Strategic litigation and the struggle for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual equality in Africa

    There has been a rise in the use of strategic litigation related to seeking equality for lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) persons. Such developments are taking place against the backdrop of active homophobia in Africa. The law and the general public should, argues the author, treat LGB persons in the same way that heterosexuals are treated. In the past two decades,30 strategic cases have been fi led by LGB activists in the Common Law African countries, namely in Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda. While the majority of the cases have been successful, they have not resulted in significant social change in any of the countries. On the contrary, there have been active backlashes, counter-mobilisations, and violence against LGB persons, as well as the further criminalisation of same-sex relations and constitutional prohibitions on same-sex marriages in some of the jurisdictions. The author argues that activists in Common Law Africa have to design LGB strategic litigation in such a way as to fi t within the actual social and political conditions in their countries if strategic litigation is to spur social change.

    Adrian Jjuuko is an exceptional scholar. A rare combination of intellectual brilliance, commitment and hard work. The book is born of this. It reflects his incisive analytical skills, anchored in solid knowledge of the law and jurisprudential developments in the field. His ventures into political theory, philosophy, and the social sciences give the analysis additional clarity and empirical grounding.

    Siri Gloppen, Norwegian political scientist, professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Bergen and Director of the CMI-UiB Center on Law and Social Transformation.

     

    Adrian Jjuuko’s meticulously researched examination of the use of strategic litigation not only celebrates the many victories which have been realized in a range of African courts of law, it also reviews and critiques the losses. He demonstrates that the law can be both an effective tool for liberation, just as it can consolidate minority oppression, gender injustice and sexual tyranny. This book is a deeply engaging and highly recommended text for those interested in shaping the evolving rights and struggles of sexual minorities on the continent for decades to come.

    J. Oloka-Onyango, Professor of Law Makerere University School of Law