African court to hear 84 cases
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
THE African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) is set to determine 84 cases in its 45th Ordinary Session to be held in Arusha City starting early next month, it has been announced.
According to a statement issued in Dar es Salaam yesterday, during the session to be held from May 8 to 24, this year, the judges of the court will, among others, examine about 80 applications and four requests for Advisory Opinion.
The Court is composed of 11 judges who are nationals of Member States of the African Union elected in their individual capacity.
It meets four times a year in Ordinary Sessions and may hold Extra-Ordinary Sessions. Until April 25, this year, the Court had received 138 applications and has finalized 32 cases.
The AfCHPR was established by virtue of Article 1 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The main reason for its establishment was to complement the protective mandate of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to enhance the protection of human rights on the continent.
Since the adoption of the Protocol in June 1998, about 30 of 55 African Union Member States have ratified it and only eight state parties to the Protocol have made the declaration under Article 34(6).
Tunisia signed the declaration on April 13, this year, becoming the eighth country to do so.
Other countries that have previously signed it are Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Malawi, Mali and Tanzania. Rwanda, which had signed, formally withdrew from the declaration last month, although the African Union Summit has urged the East African country to reconsider its position.
Meanwhile, the Republic of Ivory Coast has reiterated its commitments and full support of the African Court mandate. President Alassane Ouattara has invited the Court’s leadership to host their 47th Ordinary Session and the third Judicial Dialogue in Abidjan in November, this year.
According to a statement, the president of the West African country pledged his government’s readiness to work hand in hand with the Court to put in place all necessary arrangements to make the two activities memorable events.
President Ouattara had met with AfCHPR President, Justice Sylvain Orė, who called on him at his Palace in Abidjan recently. During their meeting, the two leaders discussed a range of issues, including the work of the African Court and the protection of human rights on the continent.
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