Director of Litigation
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Jason Brickhill joined SERI as Director of Litigation in January 2022. He has been in practice for over fifteen years, the majority of it in the public interest sector. Jason specialises in constitutional law and is interested in the potential of law and litigation to contribute to social change. He has a strong interest in access to justice and the right to civil legal aid as a key tool to realise the promise of the Constitution.
Jason holds an LLB from the University of Cape Town (magna cum laude), an MSt in International Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford (with distinction) and a DPhil in Law from the University of Oxford. Jason’s DPhil thesis was entitled 'Strategic Litigation in South Africa: Understanding and Evaluating Impact’.
Having clerked for Justice Kate O’Regan at the Constitutional Court, Jason served articles and practised as an attorney at Bowman Gilfillan. He went on to work at the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) for almost a decade as an attorney, in-house counsel and finally as Director of its Constitutional Litigation Unit. Jason led the landmark silicosis litigation by the LRC, and has worked across all areas of constitutional practice, most notably housing, education, equality, labour law, access to justice and the right to civil legal aid, and the unfinished legacy of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Since 2016, Jason has been based at the University of Oxford, where he undertook a DPhil on the impact of strategic litigation in South Africa and taught on various courses at undergraduate and master’s level. He currently teaches socio-economic rights and supervises masters’ dissertations on the Master’s in International Human Rights Law at Oxford.
Reported cases (representative sample):
Jason has appeared in approximately 100 reported cases. A representative sample may be found here.
Publications
Jason has taught and published widely in constitutional law and human rights. Jason has written or co-authored four books and over 50 book chapters or journal articles. Most of his publications are available here. His writing has frequently been cited by the Constitutional Court of South Africa.
Jason was contributing editor of Public Interest Litigation in South Africa (Juta 2018), which brought together over 20 authors from across the public interest sector, and he is a co-author of Constitutional Litigation (Juta 2013). He is the Editor-in-Chief of South African Constitutional Law: A Treatise (forthcoming), a new multi-author work covering the breadth of South African constitutional law. For over ten years, he has been the commissioned author on constitutional law for Juta’s periodical works, Juta’s Quarterly Review and The Yearbook of South African Law. He is an editor of the Constitutional Court Review and an honorary research associate at the University of Cape Town.
Op-eds and blogs
- The Constitution as a site of struggle – the next 25 years, Jason Brickhill, Daily Maverick (6 December 2021).
- How George Bizos wants you to honour him, Tembeka Ngcukaitobi and Jason Brickhill, Daily Maverick (13 September 2020).
- Strategic litigation in a perfect storm—South Africa, Jason Brickhill, OpenGlobalRights (2 April 2019) (isiXhosa translation by Lunga Siyo).
- Public interest law and the struggle for social justice, Jason Brickhill extract from book (Public Interest Litigation in South Africa, 2018), Mail & Guardian (12 October 2018).
- Constitutional implications of Covid-19: The striking down of the lockdown regulations, Jason Brickhill, Juta’s Talking Points (issue 5, 7 June 2020).
- Constitutional implications of COVID-19 Parliament: oversight, law-making and public participation in lockdown, Jason Brickhill, Juta’s Talking Points (issue 5).
- Constitutional implications of COVID-19: Access to justice and the functioning of the courts during lockdown Jason Brickhill, Juta’s Talking Points (issue 7).
- Coup, Constitution and Commission: Commission of Inquiry into Zimbabwean Electoral Violence Confirms Military Killings of Civilians, Jason Brickhill, OxHRH Blog (20 December 2018).
- Coup, Constitution and the Court: Zimbabwean Constitutional Court whitewashes flawed rigged elections, Jason Brickhill, OxHRH Blog (24 August 2018).
- Coup, Constitution and the Count: Zimbabwe’s Disputed Elections, Jason Brickhill, OxHRH Blog (7 August 2018).
- Coup and Constitution in Zimbabwe Part 1: The Military Action is Profoundly Unconstitutional, Jason Brickhill, OxHRH Blog (18 November 2017).
- Coup and Constitution in Zimbabwe Part 2: A Path Back to Constitutionalism, Jason Brickhill, OxHRH Blog (20 November 2017).