Call to Ratify African Court

Every October, precisely on the 21st day, Africa celebrates its Human Rights Day. This date originated from the fact that The African Charter entered into force on 21 October 1986.

The African Charter establishes the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (i.e. the African Commission), charged with monitoring the implementation of the Charter by states parties. However, while the African Commission had an elaborate promotional mandate under the African Charter, it did not possess sufficient protective powers to ensure states parties’ compliance, hence the need for the creation of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (i.e. the African Court).

The Protocol establishing the African Court was adopted at the Summit of the OAU (now AU) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on 10 June 1998 and came into force on 25 January 2005. The preamble to the Protocol states that to attain the objectives of the African Charter, the African Court is needed to “complement and reinforce” the functions of the African Commission. According to Article 2 of the Protocol, the African Court is intended to complement the protective mandate of the African Commission, and not to replace it.

However, only 23 out of the 53 member states of the African Union have ratified the Protocol creating the Court. This situation tends to undermine the vision leading to the establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights as stated above.

The Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights therefore urges all state parties that are yet to ratify the Protocol to do so without further delay, as a demonstration of their commitment to Human Rights development and protection in Africa.

The Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, was formed in March 2004 to advocate for an effective, efficient, independent and credible African Court on Human and Peoples Rights. Members include NGOs with an interest and commitment to the protection of human rights in Africa. Sub-regional activities are carried out by focal points in North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Portuguese-Speaking Africa.

For more information about the activities of the Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Kindly contact: Alliances for Africa (Communications Secretariat)
Email: askus at africancourtcoalition.org or visit the website at http://www.africancourtcoalition.org

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