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Reflections About the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights Twenty Years After the Ouagadougou Protocol

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Visions of African Unity

Part of the book series: African Histories and Modernities ((AHAM))

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Abstract

This chapter analyses the functioning of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, established by the Ouagadougou Protocol of 1998, its position within the Organization of African Unity and the African Union and its role in the consolidation of a proper African human rights system. The hard-won independences of African countries from colonialism dramatically influenced African politics and shaped the OAU. While considering the Ouagadougou Protocol as a milestone, the chapter examines the history of African human rights politics, starting with the preliminary discussions on the necessity to create an African human rights treaty and African judicial institutions, which took place after the founding of the OAU. The chapter reflects upon the political struggles which have shaped the Ouagadougou protocol and might determine its future.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Article 2 (1), OAU Charter, Addis Ababa, 25 May 1963.

  2. 2.

    Article 3 (2), OAU Charter.

  3. 3.

    Frans Viljoen, “The African Regional Human Rights System,” in International Protection of Human Rights: A Textbook, ed. Catarina Krause and Martin Scheinin (Turku/Åbo: Institute for Human Rights, Åbo Akademi University, 2009), 503.

  4. 4.

    Anne Pieter van Der Mei, “The New African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights: Towards an Effective Human Rights Protection Mechanism for Africa?,” Leiden Journal of International Law 18, no. 1 (2005): 113–129.

  5. 5.

    At the beginning of the 1960s three political groups were formed in a recently decolonized Africa: the Brazzaville group , the Casablanca group , and the Monrovia group . The Brazzaville group was formed by Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Côte d’Ivôire, Dahomey (actual Benin), Gabon, Malagasy Republic (actual Madagascar), Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Upper Volta (actual Burkina Faso). This group of French-speaking countries was in favour of a model, for Africa, of economic cooperation instead of a model of political integration. The Casablanca group , formed by the Algerian provisional government, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea, Libya, Mali, and Morocco, and whose prominent figure was the former president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, was in favour of a federalist model for Africa, the idea of a “United States of Africa” with a strong central government. On the opposite side, the Monrovia group —Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Côte d’Ivôire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Togo, and Tunisia—had the vision of full respect for state sovereignty, non-interference in the domestic affairs of other states, and a project for Africa far from the vision of a federal state, but of an Africa of Nations. See Samuel M. Makinda, F. Wafula Okumu, and David Mickler, The African Union. Addressing the Challenges of Peace, Security and Governance (Abingdon: Routledge 2016), 21–23. See also Leila J. Farmer, “Sovereignty and the African Union,” The Journal of Pan African Studies 4, no. 10 (2012): 96–97; Gino J. Naldi, The Organization of African Unity: An Analysis of Its Role (London: Mansell 1999), 2.

  6. 6.

    Article II (1) (c), OAU Charter.

  7. 7.

    The principle of non-interference was included to avoid external influences from the Cold War international political scenario and from African political organizations. For more about this see Skinner’s chapter in this volume; Matteo Grilli, Nkrumaism and African Nationalism (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan 2018), 265–273; Scott Thompson, Ghana’s Foreign Policy, 1957–1966 (Princeton: Princeton University Press 2015), 305–356.

  8. 8.

    Naldi, The Organization of African Unity, 6.

  9. 9.

    Nsongurua J. Udombana, “An African Human Rights Court and an African Union Court: A Needful Duality or a Needless Duplication?,” Brooklyn Journal of International Law 28 (2002): 819.

  10. 10.

    Rebecca Wright, “Finding an Impetus for Institutional Change at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” Berkeley Journal of International Law 24 (2006): 467.

  11. 11.

    Nsongurua J. Udombana, “Towards the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights: Better Late Than Never,” Yale Human Rights and Development Journal 3, no. 1 (2000): 56.

  12. 12.

    Udombana, “Towards the African Court,” 56.

  13. 13.

    Udombana, “Towards the African Court,” 57–58.

  14. 14.

    International Commission of Jurists, “African Conference on the Rule of Law. Lagos, Nigeria” (1961), https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/1961/06/Africa-African-Conference-Rule-of-Law-conference-report-1961-eng.pdf

  15. 15.

    For example, the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (1948) and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950), known as the European Convention on Human Rights.

  16. 16.

    International Commission of Jurists, “African Conference on the Rule of Law.”

  17. 17.

    International Commission of Jurists, “Déclaration de Dakar: conclusions,” (1967), available at https://www.icj.org/declaration-de-dakar-conclusions-dakar-5-9-janvier-1967/.

  18. 18.

    Richard Gittleman, “The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: A Legal Analysis,” Virginia Journal of International Law 22, no. 4 (1982): 671.

  19. 19.

    History of the African Charter,” African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, September 12, 2020, https://www.achpr.org/hotac/Dec.115 (XVI) Rev. 1 1979.

  20. 20.

    Makau W. Mutua, “The African Human Rights System: A Critical Evaluation,” in Human Development Report 2000, ed. United Nations Development Programme (2000), 4, available at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=other_scholarship

  21. 21.

    Udombana, “Towards the African Court,” 48.

  22. 22.

    Udombana, “Towards the African Court,” 47.

  23. 23.

    Viljoen, “The African Regional Human Rights System,” 505; : Frans Viljoen, “A Human Rights Court for Africa, and Africans,” Brooklyn Journal of International Law 30, no. 1 (2004): 4.

  24. 24.

    Naldi, The Organization of African Unity, 147.

  25. 25.

    Udombana, “An African Human Rights Court,” 818; Gino J. Naldi and Konstantinos Magliveras, “Reinforcing the African System of Human Rights: The Protocol on the Establishment of a Regional Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights,” Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights 16, no. 4 (1998): 431; Naldi, The Organization of African Unity, 147.

  26. 26.

    Udombana, “An African Human Rights Court,” 818.

  27. 27.

    Timothy F. Yerima, “New Trends in the African Human Rights System: Prospects of African Regional Human Rights Courts,” Global Journal of Human Social Science 12, no. 2 (2012).

  28. 28.

    Gittleman, “The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” 671.

  29. 29.

    Makau W. Mutua, “The African Human Rights Court: A Two-Legged Stood?,” Human Rights Quarterly 21 (1999): 343.

  30. 30.

    Max du Plessis and Lee Stone, “A court not found?,” African Human Rights Law Journal 7 (2007): 538.

  31. 31.

    Abrahim A. Badawi El-Sheik, “Draft Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights: Introductory Note,” African Journal of International and Comparative Law 9 (1997): 944.

  32. 32.

    Udombana, “Towards the African Court,” 47.

  33. 33.

    Simon Zschirnt, “Locking in Human Rights in Africa: Analysing State Accession to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” Human Rights Review 19 (2018): 102.

  34. 34.

    El-Sheik, “Draft Protocol to the African Charter,” 944.

  35. 35.

    Resolution on the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights AHG/Res.230 (XXX),” Organisation of African Unity, September 12, 2020 https://archives.au.int/bitstream/handle/123456789/730/AHG%20Res%20230%20%28XXX%29%20_E.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.

  36. 36.

    George Mukundi Wachira, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights: Ten Years on and Still No Justice (London: Minority Rights Group International, 2008), 13.

  37. 37.

    Protocol to the African Charter on the Establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights OAU/LEG/MIN/AFCHPR/PROT.1 rev.2,” African Union, September 12, 2020, https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36393-treaty-0019_-_protocol_to_the_african_charter_on_human_and_peoplesrights_on_the_establishment_of_an_african_court_on_human_and_peoples_rights_e.pdf.

  38. 38.

    Naldi & Magliveras, “Reinforcing the African System of Human Rights,” 433.

  39. 39.

    Articles 3 and 7 of the Ouagadougou Protocol.

  40. 40.

    Elise G. Nalbandian, “The Challenges Facing African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights,” Mizan Law Review 1, no. 1 (2007): 76.

  41. 41.

    As the individuals and organizations have not submitted a communication to the African Commission on Human Rights.

  42. 42.

    “The following are entitled to submit cases to the Court: a) the Commission; b) The State Party which had lodged a complaint to the Commission; c) The State Party against which the complaint has been lodged at the Commission; d) The State Party whose citizen is a victim of human rights violations; e) African Intergovernmental Organizations.” Article 5 (1) of the Ouagadougou Protocol.

  43. 43.

    “The Court may entitle relevant Non Governmental organizations (NGOs) with observer status before the Commission, and individuals to institute cases directly before it, in accordance with article 34 (6) of this protocol.” Article 5 (3) of the Ouagadougou Protocol.

  44. 44.

    El-Sheik, “Draft Protocol to the African Charter,” 947.

  45. 45.

    “At the time of the ratification of this Protocol or any time thereafter, the State shall make a declaration accepting the competence of the Court to receive cases under article 5 (3) of this Protocol. The Court shall not receive any petition under article 5 (3) involving a State Party which has not made such a declaration.” Article 34 (6) of the Ouagadougou Protocol.

  46. 46.

    Wachira, “Report: African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” 13.

  47. 47.

    “List of Countries Which Have Signed, Ratifies/Acceded to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” African Union, September 13, 2020, https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36393-sl-protocol_to_the_african_charter_on_human_and_peoplesrights_on_the_estab.pdf

  48. 48.

    African Union, “List of Countries Which Have Signed, Ratifies/Acceded to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”

  49. 49.

    “The Gambia Becomes the Ninth Country To Allow NGOs And Individuals To Access The African Court Directly,” 23 November 2018, http://www.african-court.org/en/index.php/news/press-releases/item/257-thegambia-becomes-the-ninth-country-to-allow-ngos-and-individuals-to-access-the-africancourt-directly

  50. 50.

    Zschirnt, “Locking in Human Rights in Africa,” 98.

  51. 51.

    Wachira, “Report: African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” 14.

  52. 52.

    Manisuli Ssenyonjo, “The Rise of the African Union Opposition to the International Criminal Court’s Investigations and Prosecutions of African Leaders,” International Criminal Law Reviews 13 (2013): 386.

  53. 53.

    Burundi withdrew from the Rome Statute, with effect on 27 October 2017. See International Criminal Court, “Burundi: Situation in the Republic of Burundi,” 2017, https://www.icc-cpi.int/burundi

  54. 54.

    A recent example of this is Guinea-Bissau, that in 2017 was visited by a mission of the African Court and expressed its will to ratify the Ouagadougou Protocol. The country is deeply affected by political instability and several coups d’état.

  55. 55.

    Zschirnt, “Locking in Human Rights in Africa,” 115.

  56. 56.

    Preamble, Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

  57. 57.

    The Constitutive Act states that a Court of Justice (AU Court of Justice) shall be established as an organ of the Union. The Protocol for the AU Court of Justice (Maputo Protocol, 2003) mentions the relationship between the AU Court of Justice and other regional courts, but once more, the Human Rights Court is not mentioned. According to the Maputo Protocol, the AU Court of Justice “shall be the principal judicial organ of the Union” (Article 2 (2)). The AU Court of Justice has competence for “the interpretation, application or validity of Union treaties and all subsidiary legal instruments adopted within the framework of the Union” (Article 19 (1) (b)), which may include the Banjul Charter and overlaps the jurisdiction of the Human Rights Court.

  58. 58.

    Host Agreement between the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania and the African Union on the seat of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Arusha, Tanzania,” 1, available at: http://en.african-court.org/images/Protocol-Host%20Agrtmt/agreement-Tanzania%20and%20AU.pdf

  59. 59.

    Mutua, “The African Human Rights Court,” 351.

  60. 60.

    Only South Sudan and the Kingdom of Morocco are not part the African Charter.

  61. 61.

    Twenty-five states have signed but not ratified the protocol, and five did not sign or ratify the protocol. See African Union, “List of Countries Which Have Signed, Ratified/Acceded to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.” http://www.achpr.org/instruments/court-establishment/

  62. 62.

    Tom Gerald Daly and Micha Wiebusch, “The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights: Mapping Resistance Against a Young Court,” International Journal of Law in Context 14 (2018): 297.

  63. 63.

    Rwanda withdrew the declaration during the proceeding of the case Ingabire v. Rwanda.

  64. 64.

    African Union, “List of Countries Which Have Signed, Ratified/Acceded to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.” . This table is not updated, as Gambia deposited the declaration required by Article 34 (6) on 23 October 2018. “The Gambia Becomes the Ninth Country To Allow NGOs And Individuals To Access The African Court Directly,” 23 November 2018, http://www.african-court.org/en/index.php/news/press-releases/item/257-the-gambia-becomes-the-ninth-country-to-allow-ngos-and-individuals-to-access-the-african-court-directly

  65. 65.

    “All judges except the President shall perform their functions on a part-time basis,” Article 15 (5), Ouagadougou Protocol.

  66. 66.

    Rule 14 (Ordinary Sessions), see “Rules of the Court,” African Court on Human and People’s Rights, September 12, 2020, https://en.african-court.org/images/Basic%20Documents/Final_Rules_of_Court_for_Publication_after_Harmonization_-_Final__English_7_sept_1_.pdf.

  67. 67.

    Udombana, “Towards the African Court”, 84.

  68. 68.

    Article 15(4) of the Ouagadougou Protocol.

  69. 69.

    Samir Séro Zim Yerima, “La Cour et la Commission Africaines des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples : Noces Constructives ou Cohabitation Orageuse ?,” Annuaire Africain des Droits de l’Homme 1, no. 1 (2017): 359.

  70. 70.

    Under article 45 (3) of the Banjul Charter, the ACmHPR has powers for the interpretation of any disposition of the human rights treaty. Similarly, the Ouagadougou Protocol states (Article 3 (1) “the jurisdiction of the Court shall extend to all cases and disputes submitted to it concerning the interpretation and application of the Charter”.

  71. 71.

    Article 2 of the Ouagadougou Protocol.

  72. 72.

    See Articles 2, 4 (1), 6(1), and 8 of the Ouagadougou Protocol.

  73. 73.

    Rule 114 (1) (Complementary with the African Court), see “Rules of Procedure of the Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, September 12, 2020, https://www.achpr.org/public/Document/file/English/Rules_of_Procedure_of_the_African_Commission_on_Human_and_PeoplesRightsof2010_%20Legal%20Instruments%20_%20ACHPR.pdf.

  74. 74.

    “Decision on the Report on the Joint Retreat of the Permanent Representatives’ Committee (PRC) and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHRP) EX.CL/Dec.1015 (XXXIII),” Executive Council of the African Union, September 12, 2020, https://au.int/sites/default/files/decisions/34655-ex_cl_dec_1008_-1030_xxxiii_e.pdf.

  75. 75.

    Executive Council of the African Union, “Decision on the Report on the Joint Retreat of the Permanent Representatives’ Committee (PRC) and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHRP) EX.CL/Dec.1015 (XXXIII).”.

  76. 76.

    Article 14 (Basis of Jurisdiction), see “Protocol on the Tribunal in the Southern African Development Community (2000),” Southern African Development Community, September 12, 2020, https://www.sadc.int/files/1413/5292/8369/Protocol_on_the_Tribunal_and_Rules_thereof2000.pdf.

  77. 77.

    Jeremy Sarkin, “A Critique of the Decision of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Permitting the Demolition of the SADC Tribunal: Politics Versus Economics and Human Rights,” African Journal of International and Comparative Law 24, no. 2 (2016): 218–219.

  78. 78.

    “Mike Campbell (Pvt) Ltd and Other v. Republic of Zimbabwe (2/2007),” Southern African Development Community Tribunal, September 12, 2020, http://www.saflii.org/sa/cases/SADCT/2008/2.pdf.

  79. 79.

    Frederick Cowell, “The Death of the Southern African Development Community Tribunal’s Human Rights Jurisdiction.” Human Rights Law Review 13, no. 1 (2013).

  80. 80.

    Article 33 (Material Jurisdiction), see “Protocol on the Tribunal in the Southern African Development Community (2014),” Southern African Development Community, September 12, 2020 https://ijrcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/New-SADC-Tribunal-Protocol-Signed.pdf.

  81. 81.

    Article 35 (Applicable Law), see Southern African Development Community, “Protocol on the Tribunal in the Southern African Development Community (2014).”

  82. 82.

    Sarkin, “A critique of the decision of the African Commission,” 222.

  83. 83.

    “Contentious Matters,” African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, September 12, 2020, https://www.african-court.org/en/index.php/cases/2016-10-17-16-18-21#statistical-summary

  84. 84.

    Nicole De Silva, “African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” in International Law’s Objects, ed. Jessie Hobmann and Daniel Joyce (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), 8.

  85. 85.

    “African rights court to get permanent home,” The New Times, 31 October 2012, https://www. newtimes.co.rw/section/read/59202.

  86. 86.

    In the Femi Falana v. The African Union case, Mr Falana, a citizen of Nigeria, a country that ratified the protocol in 2004 but has not deposited the declaration, asked to the court to find Article 34 (6) “inconsistent” with several articles of the Human Rights Charter and a violation of his rights to “freedom from discrimination, fair hearing and equal treatment” (Paragraph 3, Femi Falana v. The African Union). Mr Falana sued the African Union as his state failed to deposit the declaration and the AU is “representative” of the states. Another case was brought to court by Mr Atemnkeng, a Cameroonian citizen, that sued the African Union on similar grounds. According to the judgment Atabong Denis Atemnkeng v. The African Union, it is alleged that Article 34 (6) is inconsistent with the Constitutive Act of the African Union, Article 4 (m) (o), as it “gives violators of human and peoples’ rights […] powers to prevent their victims from making their voices heard and from obtaining justice” (Paragraph 17, Atabong Denis Atemnkeng v. The African Union). The court found in both cases, and with no surprise, that it has no jurisdiction because the African Union is not a party of the Ouagadougou Protocol.

  87. 87.

    Namely Sophia Akuffo, Bernard Ngoepe, and Elsie Thompson.

  88. 88.

    “In the matter of Atabong Denis Atemnkeng v. The African Union (Application no. 014/2011), Dissenting opinion,” African Court on Human and People’s Rights September 12, 2020, https://en.african-court.org/images/Cases/Dissenting-Separate%20Opinions/Application_014-2011-Dissenting_Opinion_of_Judge_Sophia_A.B_AKUFFO_Bernard_M._NGOEPE_and_Judge_Elsie_N._THOMPSON.pdf.

  89. 89.

    African Court on Human and People’s Rights, “In the matter of Atabong Denis Atemnkeng v. The African Union (Application no. 014/2011), Dissenting opinion.”

  90. 90.

    Frans Viljoen, International Human Rights Law in Africa (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 449.

  91. 91.

    Ibrahima Kane and Ahmed C. Motala, “The Creation of a New African Court of Justice and Human Rights,” in The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: The System in Practice 1986–2006, ed. Malcolm Evans and Rachel Murray (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), 410.

  92. 92.

    “Decision on the draft protocol of the Court of Justice, EX/CL/Dec.58 (III),” Execute Council of the African Union, September 12, 2020, https://au.int/sites/default/files/decisions/9642-ex_cl_dec_20_-_74_iii_e_0.pdf.

  93. 93.

    “Decision on the Seats of the African Union, Assembly/AU/Dec.45 (III),” Assembly of the African Union, September 12, 2020, https://au.int/sites/default/files/decisions/9550-assembly_en_30_31_january_2005_auc_third_ordinary_session.pdf.

  94. 94.

    Kane and Motala, “The Creation of a New African Court of Justice and Human Rights,” 409.

  95. 95.

    “Decision on the Merger of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Court of Justice of the African Union, EX/CL/Dec.165 (VI),” Executive Council of the African Union, September 12, 2020, https://au.int/sites/default/files/decisions/9627-council_en_24_28_january_2005_executive_council_sixth_ordinary_session_session.pdf.

  96. 96.

    Githu Muigai, “From the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights to the African Court of Justice and Human Rights,” in in The African Regional Human Rights System: 30 years after the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, ed. Manisuli Ssenyonjo (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2012.), 279.

  97. 97.

    “Decision on the Merger of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Court of Justice of the African Union, EX/CL/Dec.165 (VI),” Executive Council of the African Union, September 12, 2020, https://au.int/sites/default/files/decisions/9627-council_en_24_28_january_2005_executive_council_sixth_ordinary_session_session.pdf.

  98. 98.

    Preamble, Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights, 2008.

  99. 99.

    Article 3, Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights, 2008.

  100. 100.

    Rui Garrido. “O Sistema Africano dos Direitos Humanos em Transformação? A Criação do Tribunal Africano de Justiça e Direitos Humanos e os Desafios à Proteção dos Direitos Humanos em África”, in Temas de Investigação em Direitos Humanos para o Século XXI, ed. Patrícia Jerónimo (Braga: Direitos Humanos - Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar, 2016), 339.

  101. 101.

    Article 3 and Article 6 of the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights, 2008.

  102. 102.

    Zschirnt, “Locking in Human Rights in Africa,” 98.

  103. 103.

    “List of Countries Which Have Signed, Ratified/Acceded to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights,” African Union, September 12, 2020, https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36393-sl-protocol_to_the_african_charter_on_human_and_peoplesrights_on_the_estab.pdf.

  104. 104.

    Article 9, Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights, 2008.

  105. 105.

    “Decision on the application by the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor for the Indictment of the President of the Republic of Sudan, Assembly/AU/Dec.221 (XII),” Assembly of the African Union, September 12, 2020, https://archives.au.int/bitstream/handle/123456789/1083/Assembly%20AU%20Dec%20221%20%28XII%29%20_E.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.

  106. 106.

    “Decision on the progress report of the Commission on the Implementation of decision Assembly/AU/Dec.270 (XIV) on the second ministerial meeting on the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Assembly/AU/Dec.296 (XV),” Assembly of the African Union, September 12, 2020, https://archives.au.int/bitstream/handle/123456789/1178/Assembly%20AU%20Dec%20296%20%28XV%29%20_E.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.

  107. 107.

    List of Countries Which Have Signed, Ratified/Acceded to the Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights,” African Union, September 12, 2020, https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36398-sl-PROTOCOL%20ON%20AMENDMENTS%20TO%20THE%20PROTOCOL%20ON%20THE%20STATUTE%20OF%20THE%20AFRICAN%20COURT%20OF%20JUSTICE%20AND%20HUMAN%20RIGHTS.pdf.

  108. 108.

    Frans Viljoen, “AU Assembly Should Consider Human Rights Implications Before Adopting the Amending Merged African Court Protocol,” 23 May 2012, https://africlaw.com/2012/05/23/au-assembly-should-consider-human-rights-implications-before-adopting-the-amending-merged-african-court-protocol/

  109. 109.

    Rui Garrido, “Pode o Tribunal Africano de Justiça e Direitos Humanos ser uma Solução Africana para problemas Africanos,” Relações Internacionais 54 (2017): 63.

  110. 110.

    According to Article 4 (3) of the statute annexed to the Malabo Protocol, the general affairs section has five judges, the human rights section five judges, and the international criminal section will have six judges.

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  1. Research Centre for Justice and Governance, Braga, Portugal

    Rui Garrido

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    Matteo Grilli

  2. Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Frank Gerits

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Garrido, R. (2020). Reflections About the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights Twenty Years After the Ouagadougou Protocol. In: Grilli, M., Gerits, F. (eds) Visions of African Unity. African Histories and Modernities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52911-6_13

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