The Constitution of Kenya: Contemporary Reading, provides an in-depth assessment of the interface between constitutionalism and Kenyas new Constitution. Focusing on the historical trajectory on the search for a new Constitution, Chapter One lays the groundwork upon which the fault line between constitutionalism and the issue areas are articulated in the other chapters in relation to the new Constitution. The superb chapters on the carefully selected issue areas, make this edited volume an essential reading. The book makes an important contribution to the evolving constitutionalism and policy clarification on Kenyas new Constitution. It is a welcome and timely intervention by legal scholars and practitioners on the new constitution and the challenges facing Kenya in its implementation. The book is an excellent teaching and reading manual for students in law, history, politics, diplomacy, and international relations as well as for the practitioners.

Kenya, like the rest of Africa, has gone through three sets of constitutional crises. The first related to the trauma of colonialism and struggle for independence. The second a period of constitutional dictatorship and the clamor for reform. The third, most recent crisis, being one of identity, legitimacy and the inability of the state to discharge its functions which has resulted in civil unrest, violent ethnic conflicts, poverty, social exclusion and inequality. The Making of the Constitution of Kenya examines the processes, issues and challenges of constitution making, governance and legitimacy in that country and the lessons that can be learned for others on the continent. Equipping the reader with a sound historical perspective on constitutional developments and the crisis of constitutional legitimacy in Kenya it gives an invaluable insight into the normative and political complexities involved in evolving a truly democratic and widely acceptable constitutional order in Africa.

The golden thread that cuts across the various chapters of the book is the emphasis that good constitutions anchor certain tenets that have garnered recognition as hallmarks of democratic dispensation. These hallmarks include the concept of separation of powers; the doctrine of the rule of law; constitutionalism and human rights. These attributes have largely been secured by the 2010 Constitution. Thus, this book is expected to contribute to this new promise by making knowledge on the Constitution accessible through breaking down and contextualising its provisions. It is certain to be useful to law and government students, lawyers, researchers and other persons who seek to understand the new constitutional order.

Dworkin's important book is a collection of essays which discuss almost all of the great constitutional issues of the last two decades, including abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, homosexuality, pornography, and free speech. Dworkin offers a consistently liberal view of the Constitution and argues that fidelity to it and to law demands that judges make moral judgments. He proposes that we all interpret the abstract language of the Constitution by reference to moral principles about political decency and justice. His 'moral reading' therefore brings political morality into the heart of constitutional law. The various chapters of this book were first published separately; now drawn together they provide the reader with a rich, full-length treatment of Dworkin's general theory of law.

This volume counters one-sided dominant discursive representations of gender in human rights and transitional justice, and women’s place in the transformations of neoliberal human rights, and contributes a more balanced examination of how transitional justice and human rights institutions, and political institutions impact the lives and experiences of women. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the contributors to this volume theorize and historicize the place of women’s rights (and gender), situating it within contemporary country-specific political, legal, socio-cultural and global contexts. Chapters examine the progress and challenges facing women (and women’s groups) in transitioning countries: from Peru to Argentina, from Kenya to Sierra Leone, and from Bosnia to Sri Lanka, in a variety of contexts, attending especially to the relationships between local and global forces