CALL FOR PAPERS
Public Law Conference
Dates: 1 - 4 July
Location: Cape Town
About the Event
The 2026 Public Law Conference will be held at the Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town on the theme ‘Public Law and the Future of Constitutional Democracy’. The Conference will take place at a time of fundamental challenges confronting constitutional democracy in many common- law jurisdictions, indeed globally. The theme is especially apposite to the 30th anniversary of South Africa’s democratic Constitution of 1996, given the nation's history of government founded on systemic racism, exploitation, and injustice. Concern about the vitality of constitutional democratic values and the rule of law lies at the heart of the Conference call.
As with previous conferences in the Public Law series, the chosen theme seeks to solicit a variety of responses from public lawyers across a range of legal systems in the common-law world. Prospective speakers are invited to engage with the theme from a range of disciplinary perspectives and using doctrinal, theoretical, empirical, comparative or other suitable approaches.
Papers might address specific topics relating to a non-exhaustive list of subthemes. For more information, view the full call for papers here.
Prospective speakers are invited to submit an abstract of no more than 500 words addressing any aspect of the conference theme. Abstracts must be submitted via the Oxford Abstracts electronic system, which will open on Monday 1 September 2025 and close on Friday 14 November 2025.
You will be informed by Monday 12 January 2026 whether your abstract has been accepted for presentation. Please submit your abstracts by following the Oxford Abstracts link here. Abstracts are invited from those at any career stage. Papers will be accepted on the basis of merit and fit with the conference theme. Those who have their abstracts accepted will be required to submit a full written paper by Friday 15 May 2026 for distribution in advance to conference delegates. Please note that speakers will have to meet their own expenses and pay the conference fee in the ordinary way.
Limited funding will be available to subsidise intending speakers resident in Africa who face financial challenges in attending the conference. Speakers in this category may apply for assistance on acceptance of their abstract. Regrettably, such funding cannot be assured.