International Law and Courts ZS 2010-11

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International Law and Courts Office Number: 304 Metropolitní univerzita Praha, o.p.s.Dubečská 900/10100 31 Praha 10 - StrašniceCourse time: Tuesday Winter Semestr 2010/11, 11.40 – 13.10, Dubečská, No. 109Office hours: Please contact me by appointment, on Tuesday, on Thursday Jarov.

Mgr. Ilona KostadinovováKontakt: ilda@seznam.czWeb: http://akilda.webnode.cz/

Session Breakdown:

Week 7)

The African Court on Human and Peoples´ Rights

An important and relevant theory to this course concerns the history of the court and the role of this court and the basic principles of the proceedings under the court.

This lesson looks at some cases.

This Week´s Readings:http://www.african-court.org/

http://www.africa-union.org/

Session Breakdown:

Week 7)

The African Court on Human and Peoples´ Rights

An important and relevant theory to this course concerns the history of the court and the role of this court and the basic principles of the proceedings under the court.

This lesson looks at some cases.

This Week´s Readings:http://www.african-court.org/

JudgesThe Court consists of eleven judges who are nationals of Member States of the African Union. According to Article 11 to 14 of the Protocol they are elected by secret ballot by the Assembly of the Heads of State of the African Union from among jurists of high moral character and of recognised practical, judicial or academic competence and experience in the field of human and peoples' rights. The President of the Court is Justice M. Gérard Niyungeko (Burundi), while Justice Sophia A.B. Akuffo (Ghana) is the Court's Vice-President. The President and Vice-President are elected for a term of two years and may be re-elected only once. The other judges in order of precedence are Justices Bernard Makgabo Ngoepe (South Africa), Modibo Tounty Guindo (Mali), Fatsah Ouguergouz (Algeria), Joseph Nyamihana Mulenga (Uganda), Augustino S. L. Ramadhani (United Republic of Tanzania), Duncan Tambala (Malawi), Elsie Nwanwuri Thompson (Nigeria) and Sylvain Ore of Ivory Coast.

Institutional BackgroundThe African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (African Court) was established by a Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, which was adopted by Member States of the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in June 1998. The Protocol entered into force in January 2004.

The first judges of the African Court were elected in January 2006, in Khartoum, the Sudan. They were later sworn in before the Assembly of Heads of State and Government on 2 July 2006, in Banjul, the Gambia. The judges were elected in their individual capacities from among African jurists and judges of proven integrity, qualifications and experience, having been nominated by individual Member States.

HistoryThe election was also based on equitable representation of the five major African regions, and major legal systems and jurisdictions. In July 2008, the Executive Council of the African Union and the Assembly of Heads of State and Government during the Thirteenth and Eleventh Sessions of the African Union respectively, re-elected and re-appointed two judges whose terms had elapsed and were up for re-election. Two new judges were also elected and appointed. The African Court started its operations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in November 2006 but moved to its permanent seat in Arusha, Tanzania in August 2007. It has now firmly established itself in Arusha where the government of the United Republic of Tanzania has provided it with temporary premises pending the construction of permanent structures.

HistoryThe Court has since its establishment held eleventh ordinary sessions and one extraordinary session.

One of the challenges of the African Court in its initial stages was to complete its operationalisation process. Judges have thus during the Court's sessions discussed issues which have included the preparation of the Court's budget and the development of the administrative structure of the Court's registry.

The Policy Organs of the African Union approved the structure of the Court's registry. In total, the African Court will have 57 members of staff including the judges. The President of the African Court is resident at the seat of the African Court whereas the other ten (10) judges work on a part-time basis.

HistoryMost importantly, the African Court completed the complex but crucial task of drafting its Rules, which were adopted provisionally during the Court's ninth session in June 2008 pending the process of consultation with the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, based in Banjul.

The Protocol on the establishment of the Court required that the two institutions harmonise their respective Rules.

The Court is now ready to receive cases.

Relation to other relevant InstitutionsThe Court is not the only institution mandated with the duty of entrenching and enhancing human rights on the continent. There are other institutions and bodies that are also concerned with the protection and promotion of human rights. It is therefore important to discuss the Court's relationship with some of them. The Court's relationship with the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights is determined by Article 2 of the Protocol Establishing the Court, which states that the Court shall complement the protective mandate of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.

HistoryThere are also various courts of justice of the regional economic communities (RECs) in Africa.

These courts and tribunals also have human rights mandates even though they were primarily established to supervise the operation of the treaties that established their respective RECs and resolve disputes between members states thereof. These include the Court of Justice of the East African Community in Arusha, Tanzania, the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States in Abuja, Nigeria, the Court of Justice of the Common Market of East and Southern Africa in Lusaka, Zambia and the Tribunal of the Southern African Development Community in Windhoek, Namibia. As some of these regional courts of justice may have competence to deal with some human rights issues the Court is interested in their work and will collaborate with them.

HistoryFurthermore, in an era where almost all African countries have a Bill of Rights section in their Constitutions, there is also a need to establish a platform for continuous interaction between judges of Municipal Courts and those of the African Court.

In light of the requirement for exhaustion of domestic remedies at the admissibility stage, the relevance of decisions handed down by Supreme Courts of various Member States to the African Court is obvious, hence the need for collaboration.

How the court works?

Please follow the word document FAQ.

Seat in Arusha, Tanzania.

Jurisdiction of the Court - Interim Rules of Court, art. 26

Please follow also the 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

Court Establishment

Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights

Interim Rules of Court

Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights

Protocol of the Court of Justice of the African Union

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

Caseshttp://www.african-court.org/en/cases/latest-

judgments/

15th December 2009: Judgment in the matter of Michelot Yogogombaye versus the Republic of Senegal, application No. 001/2008

Separate opinion of Judge Fatsah Ouguergouz in the matter of Michelot Yogogombaye versus the Republic of Senegal, application No. 001/2008

Ilona Kostadinovováilda@seznam.cz

http://akilda.webnode.cz/

Thank you for your attention. I wish you a beautiful rest of the day.

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