Only Ghana, 5 other African Countries have accepted the competence of the African Court

“The African Court shall not receive any petition under Article 5 (3) involving a State, which has not made such a declaration”.

Is allowance instantly strangers applauded

A paltry six African States have accepted the competence of the African Court per Article 34(6) of its Charter. They are Ghana, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mali, Tunisia, and the Gambia.

Also, only 31 AU member states have ratified the Protocol that establishes the African Court.

Further to the above, 54 out of the 55 African Union(AU) member states have ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights except for Morocco.

The above was revealed by the President of the African Court, Lady Justice Imani D. Aboud in an interaction with the Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo at Arusha in Tanzania.

Lady Justice Imani also explained that the states first of all shall make a declaration to accept the competence of the African Court to receive cases under Article 5(3) of the Protocol.

Therefore the court shall not receive per Article 5(3) any petition involving a state that has not made the above declaration.

“The African Court shall not receive any petition under Article 5 (3) involving a State, which has not made such a declaration”.

However for the court to decide a case in the absence of the above declaration, the application must first be submitted to the Banjul Commission for a preliminary examination.

On his part, the Vice President of Nigeria called for increased sensitization for the AU member states relative to the Court’s role.

He further applauded the Court for its achievements despite the numerous challenges.

“I really must commend you for the work you are doing, and landmark rulings,” he noted.

The 62nd Ordinary Session of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights is taking place in Arusha in the United Republic of Tanzania. It began on September 6  and will end on October 1, 2021.

The four-week session will see judges examining several applications and delivering judgment on the same on the last day of the session via: https://www.youtube.com/user/africancourt/live.

The African Court is a continental court that was set up by  AU member states per Article 1 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

After more than 15 states ratified the protocol setting up the African Court in Burkina Faso, it came to force on January 25, 2004.

SUMMARY OF JUDGMENTS DELIVERED AT THE CLOSE OF 61ST ORDINARY SESSION

  1. 003 – 2017 – CSTM c Mali (French)
  2. 006-2019 –  Moussa Kante et 39 autres c Mali Resumé de l’Arrêt (French)
  3. 008-2016 – Masoud Rajabu v Tanzania Judgment Summary
  4. 010-2015 – Amiri Ramadhani v Tanzania Judgment Summary
  5. 020-2019 – Komi Koutche c Benin Resumé de l’Arret (French)
  6. 023-2016 – Yahaya Zumo Makame v Tanzania Judgment Summary Press Release
  7. 032-2015 –  Kijiji Isiaga v Tanzania Reparations  Judgment summary
  8. 033-2018 – Alie Ben Hassen Ben Youcef Ben Abd Lhafid Judgment Summary (Arabic)