This week in law and policy research: ten open-access studies on legal systems, public health, and regulation, drawn from journals across Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
📊 This week at a glance
🌍 African-led research
Socio-economic rights litigation in South Africa often fails to change the daily lives of poor women.
Bruintjies argues that court victories on housing, water, and social grants rarely translate into real gains for the women who need them most, because the literature on law and social change has largely ignored their experiences. The implication is that lawyers and activists should design cases around the actual conditions of poverty, disadvantage, and vulnerability to violence that poor women face, not just legal doctrine. For African scholarship, this is a call to centre lived experience when measuring whether rights litigation works.
Lawyers report high rates of depression, anxiety, stress, and hazardous drinking, and the first large multi-jurisdiction estimate of work-related burnout in the profession.
Krill and Anker update prevalence estimates that had grown outdated and add burnout data across multiple jurisdictions, showing that distress is tied to practice environments and work demands. The finding shifts the conversation from individual resilience to structural causes inside law firms and courts. It matters for African legal systems, where lawyer well-being is rarely studied but working conditions are often intense.
Section 27(1)(c) of South Africa’s Constitution provides a legal basis for a Basic Income Grant, not just an economic one.
Mdletshe argues that debates on the Basic Income Grant (BIG) have focused on cost and design while neglecting the constitutional right to social security. Using doctrinal analysis, the article shows how section 27(1)(c) can frame and justify a BIG. This gives African policymakers and advocates a legal argument to pair with fiscal ones.
The Western Cape Commissioner for Children is the only sub-national, thematic child rights institution in South Africa.
Couzens and Holness analyse how the Commissioner was established, what powers and duties it holds, and how it facilitates child participation. The paper shows that child rights oversight can operate below the national level, a model other provinces or countries could adapt. For African child rights scholarship, it documents a rare institutional design.
Indonesia’s POJK No. 13/2025 relies on legal certainty and legal protection to guard investors against stock manipulation by financial influencers.
Anggraeni, Rahayu, and Jibril examine how the regulation addresses pump-and-dump schemes and misleading information spread by online influencers. The study shows how two legal pillars are implemented in a new rule aimed at retail investors. It offers African regulators a comparative example as influencer-driven investment grows across the continent.
South African learners are routinely informally suspended for minor infractions like not wearing the prescribed uniform or missing homework.
Reyneke argues that this practice lacks a law of general application, meaning it is not properly authorised by clear, published rules. The implication is that schools need formal, fair procedures even for less serious transgressions. For African education law, it highlights how everyday discipline can violate learners’ rights.
🔬 Global breakthroughs
The EU’s DSA Transparency Database has significant shortcomings that limit its usefulness for monitoring content moderation.
Leijten empirically maps the database’s flaws and identifies levers for improvement, showing that the transparency obligation is not yet delivering on its stated goals. The finding matters because the Digital Services Act (DSA) depends on transparency to create a safe online environment. For African regulators considering similar platform rules, it is a cautionary tale about data quality.
Permitless concealed carry laws, adopted by more than 20 US states since 2015, have measurable effects on crime.
Parker estimates the causal impact of these laws, which let firearm owners carry a concealed handgun in public without a license or background check. The study provides evidence on a major shift in US firearm policy. It matters for comparative gun policy debates, though its findings are specific to the US context.
Main path analysis can track how case law evolves over time, not just identify which precedents are cited.
Jiang, Breskaya, and van Dijck apply the method to judicial reasoning, automating a task that legal network analysis had largely overlooked. The approach could help lawyers and researchers keep up with relevant case law more easily. For African legal systems with growing digital case archives, it points to tools for mapping doctrinal change.
Brazil’s first updated national guidelines in years address candidemia and invasive candidiasis, driven by late diagnosis and limited antifungal access.
Colombo et al. provide diagnosis and treatment recommendations for adults and children, responding to persistently high mortality in Brazil. The guidelines highlight how low- and middle-income countries face heterogeneous diagnostic capacity and drug access. For African clinicians, the approach offers a model for context-specific guidance on invasive fungal infections.
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