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Advisory Opinion on the Request by the Pan African Lawyers Union Regarding the Compatibility of Vagrancy Laws with the African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights and other Human Rights Instruments Applicable in Africa (Afr. Ct. H.P.R.)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 November 2021

Ndanga Kamau*
Affiliation:
Ndanga Kamau is an international lawyer specializing in international dispute settlement, public international law, and private international law. She is the Founder of NdangaKamau Law, an international lawpractice based in The Hague, the Netherlands. Email: [email protected], Website: www.ndangakamau.com

Extract

On December 4, 2020, the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (the Court) issued an advisory opinion on the compatibility of vagrancy laws with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (African Charter), the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (Children's Rights Charter), and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Protocol on Women's Rights). In this landmark advisory opinion, the Court considered an important social issue on the African continent.

Type
International Legal Documents
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The American Society of International Law

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References

ENDNOTES

2 All references to “vagrancy laws” include by-laws.

3 Advisory Opinion, ¶¶ 14–28.

4 Id. ¶¶ 29–32.

5 African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, arts. 2–3, https://au.int/en/treaties/african-charter-human-and-peoples-rights; Advisory Opinion, ¶¶ 64–75.

6 Id. art. 5.; Advisory Opinion, ¶¶ 76–82.

7 Id. art. 6.; Advisory Opinion, ¶¶ 83–87.

8 Id. art. 7.

9 Id. art. 12.; Advisory Opinion, ¶¶ 95–102.

10 Id. art. 18., Advisory Opinion, ¶¶ 103–107.

11 African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, art. 3, https://au.int/en/treaties/african-charter-rights-and-welfare-child; Advisory Opinion, ¶¶ 116–120.

12 Id. art. 4(1); Advisory Opinion, ¶¶ 121–123.

13 Id. art. 17; Advisory Opinion, ¶¶ 124–128.

14 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, art. 24(a),https://au.int/en/treaties/protocol-african-charter-human-and-peoples-rights-rights-women-africa: “The State Parties undertake to ensure the protection of poor women and women heads of families including women from marginalised population groups and provide an environment suitable to their condition and their special physical, economic and social needs.” Advisory Opinion, ¶¶ 135–140.

15 Advisory Opinion, ¶¶ 149–150.

16 Advisory Opinion, ¶ 153.

18 Id. ¶¶ 51–56.