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’, during 1-4 July 2026. The Conference is co-organised by the University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, University of the Western Cape, and University of Melbourne.

The Public Law Conference is a biennial series of major international conferences on public law in common law systems. The Cape Town conference will be the sixth conference in the series, that began at the University of Cambridge in 2014, with conferences subsequently held in Melbourne, Dublin and Ottawa.

The 2026 Conference takes place at a time of fundamental challenges confronting constitutional democracy globally, and the conference theme is underpinned by a concern for the vitality of constitutional democratic values and the rule of law. This focus is especially apposite for the 30th anniversary of South Africa’s democratic Constitution of 1996.

The conference programme is structured around plenary and parallel panel sessions, and features over 100 speakers including leading judges, scholars and practitioners from across the common law world. The conference begins on 1 July with welcome refreshments and the conference keynote, to be delivered by the Chief Justice of South Africa. Plenary sessions will address challenges to constitutional democracy, judicial independence and accountability, reconceiving public international law, comparative influences on national jurisdictions, and 30 years of South African Constitutionalism.

The Conference Gala Dinner will be held on the evening of 2 July at the Norval Foundation Art Gallery, situated in the scenic Steenberg wine region.

Registration is via the conference website, with concessionary rates available for those based at African universities or institutions. Registration closes on 15 June. The conference organisers have secured preferential rates for conference delegates at several hotels. Please note that places at the conference dinner are strictly limited, so we encourage registration as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

To register for the conference and for further information please visit the conference website: https://law.uct.ac.za/publiclawconference2026

For queries about the conference, please email the organisers at: publiclawconference2026@gmail.com