Human Rights

Incorporating a Model of Human Rights into the Adjudication of Pharmaceutical Patent Cases (Part Two) South Africa as a Case Study - Book Review

Oke’s book Patents, Human Rights and Access to Medicines, is a timely and valuable contribution to the literature in this area. Its timeliness is due to the global context of the COVID-19 pandemic since 2019. The discussion of the import of patents to access to medicines, from a human rights lens is a critical endeavour which has been undertaken by several scholars. The seminal Intellectual Property, Human Rights and Access to Medicines-A Selected and Annotated Bibliography, now in its 3rd edition (Velásquez, Correa and Ido, 2020) curates the majority of this literature.

Book Review: Patents, Human Rights, and Access to Medicines

The book discusses the manner in which patent rights adversely affect access to medicines by developing countries and proposes ways to mitigate this. From the author’s point of view, the current international patent rights system as embodied in the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) is too concerned with protecting the interests of innovators at the expense of all other users. In this way, the TRIPS Agreement, by introducing mandatory minimum and stronger standards for the protection of patent rights, has provided an incentive for pharmaceutical companies to charge inflated prices while concentrating their investments mainly towards diseases that affect developed countries. Further, the TRIPS Agreement has diminished the policy space available for developing countries to design patent regimes that are suitable for their developmental and technological needs and circumstances.

In Search of a Suitable Theoretical Justification for Patent Rights

The book is a must-read for policymakers, governments, regional communities, students, researchers, health practitioners and anyone that may be interested in 'the access to medicine for all' campaign. The depth of analysis and critical thinking renders the author's arguments very persuasive and practical. It will stimulate the readers to view patent law and policy as a ‘work in progress’ rather than being ‘cast in stone’ and get them thinking about how it can be further improved. The book is highly recommended.

Book Review: Patents, Human Rights, and Access to Medicines. Emmanuel Kolawole Oke. Cambridge University Press, 2022

I credit this book with providing an extremely thorough analysis of the relationship between pharmaceutical patents and human rights and moving us forward to an understanding that will undoubtedly improve access to medicines if applied. It will no doubt prove invaluable to policy makers, judges, legislators, activists, governments, students, and the general public.

Introduction to Book Review Symposium: Patents, Human Rights, and Access to Medicines (Cambridge University Press, 2022)

In the book, I critically examine the nature of the relationship between patent rights and the right to health under international law. I equally critically evaluate how tribunals and courts in Kenya, South Africa, and India address the tension between patent rights and the right to health. Crucially, the book highlights the strategic role that national courts can play in facilitating access to affordable medicines.

Inaugural Sovereign Debt Academy of the African Sovereign Debt Justice Network

Welcome to the inaugural Sovereign Debt Academy convened by the African Sovereign Debt Justice Network (AfSDJN). AfSDJN is a coalition of citizens, scholars, civil society actors and church groups committed to exposing the adverse impact of unsustainable levels of African sovereign debt on the lives of ordinary citizens.

NEWS: 6.16.2022

The News and Events published every week include conferences, major developments in the field of International Economic Law in Africa at the national, sub-regional and regional levels as well as relevant case law.

Forty Fourth Sovereign Debt News Update: Kenya’s Bond Performances in Context

The African Sovereign Debt Justice Network brings to you an update of African sovereign debt news and updates on events and happenings on and about Africa that reveal how sovereign debt issues are engaged by the various stakeholders.

The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA Launches Race and Human Rights Reimagined Initiative

The Promise Institute for Human Rights is proud to be at the forefront of critical thinking about the role of human rights in achieving racial justice and equality. Bringing together our expertise in human rights, Critical Race Theory, and Third World Approaches to International Law, we strive to uncover how race and empire operate within the international human rights system, while exploring the potential of law to dismantle national and trans-national structures of racial and colonial subordination.