Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Table of cases
- List of abbreviations
- Editors' Preface
- Introductory Preface: The African Charter and African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
- 1 The African Union and the Regional Human Rights System
- 2 The State Reporting Mechanism of the African Charter
- 3 Communications under the African Charter: Procedure and Admissibility
- 4 Evidence and Fact-Finding by the African Commission
- 5 Civil and Political Rights in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights: Articles 1–7
- 6 Civil and Political Rights in the African Charter: Articles 8–14
- 7 Group Rights
- 8 The Role of Non-governmental Organisations and National Human Rights Institutions at the African Commission
- 9 A View from the Inside: The Role of the Secretariat
- 10 The Special Rapporteurs in the African System
- 11 Working Groups of the African Commission and their Role in the Development of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
- 12 The Creation of a New African Court of Justice and Human Rights
- 13 Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa
- Bibliography
- Index
12 - The Creation of a New African Court of Justice and Human Rights
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Table of cases
- List of abbreviations
- Editors' Preface
- Introductory Preface: The African Charter and African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
- 1 The African Union and the Regional Human Rights System
- 2 The State Reporting Mechanism of the African Charter
- 3 Communications under the African Charter: Procedure and Admissibility
- 4 Evidence and Fact-Finding by the African Commission
- 5 Civil and Political Rights in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights: Articles 1–7
- 6 Civil and Political Rights in the African Charter: Articles 8–14
- 7 Group Rights
- 8 The Role of Non-governmental Organisations and National Human Rights Institutions at the African Commission
- 9 A View from the Inside: The Role of the Secretariat
- 10 The Special Rapporteurs in the African System
- 11 Working Groups of the African Commission and their Role in the Development of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
- 12 The Creation of a New African Court of Justice and Human Rights
- 13 Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Introduction
The election of the eleven judges of the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights (‘the African Court’) in January 2006 marked a milestone in the protection of human rights in Africa. This momentous occasion occurred almost twenty-five years after the adoption of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (‘the African Charter’), which created a regional system for the promotion and protection of human rights.
The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (‘the African Court Protocol’) was adopted by the AU Summit in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on 9 June 1998, and came into effect on 25 January 2004, thirty days after receipt by the AU Commission of the 15th instrument of ratification. The Protocol has currently been ratified by twenty-three States.
In July 2006, the Assembly of the African Union (‘the Assembly’) decided that the seat of the African Court shall be established in Arusha, Tanzania, and the Tanzanian Government has identified for the African Court the facilities currently being used by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). While these facilities are of superior quality, having been converted and equipped by the United Nations, these are only likely to become vacant at the end of 2010, almost four years from now.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The African Charter on Human and Peoples' RightsThe System in Practice 1986–2006, pp. 406 - 440Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008