Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights · 1998 · 35 citations · 0 references
LawHuman Rights LawPublic LawAfrican StudiesComparative Human Rights LawHuman RightsAfrican GovernanceHuman Rights GovernanceHuman Rights InstitutionsHuman Rights ProtectionInternational Human Rights LawRegional Human Rights SystemsAfrican Charter On Human And Peoples' RightsHuman Rights MechanismsHuman Rights RegimesRegional Human Rights Courts
In 1988 the Organisation of African Unity adopted a Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights establishing an African Court, addressing a fundamental flaw in Africa’s human‑rights protection system since the Charter’s 1986 entry into force. The article aims to legally analyze the Protocol’s provisions and compare them with other regional human‑rights judicial organs. This is achieved through a comparative legal examination of the Protocol’s provisions against those of European and American regional courts. The study concludes that the African Court is not inferior to its European and American counterparts and hopes that, once ratified and in force, it will become an effective guarantor of human rights in a continent plagued by abusive state behaviour.
In 1988 the Organisation of African Unity adopted a Protocol top the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights establishing an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. This development addresses one of the fundamental flaws in the institutional system for the protection of human rights in Africa since the Charter entered into force in 1986. The article analyses the provisions of the Protocol from a legal perspective and draws comparisons with other regional human rights judicial organs. The conclusion is reached that in principle the Court does not on the whole compare unfavourably with its European and American counterparts. It can only be hoped that when the Protocol is ratified and comes into force that the Court will be an effective guarantor of human rights in a continent that has been wrecked by abusive state behaviour.