Murray: The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights: A Commentary

Rachel Murray (Univ. of Bristol - Law) has published The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights: A Commentary (Oxford Univ. Press 2019). Here's the abstract:

The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) is the principle regional human rights treaty for the African continent. Adopted in 1981, there is now a significant body of jurisprudence and interpretation by its African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and the recently established African Court. This volume provides a comprehensive article-by-article legal analysis of the provisions of the Charter as it draws upon the documents adopted by the African Commission, including resolutions, case law, and concluding observations. Where relevant, case law adopted by the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, and that of other sub-regional courts and tribunals and domestic courts in Africa, are also incorporated. The book examines not only the substantive rights in the African Charter but also the work of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and provides a full examination of its mandate. A critical analysis of each of the provisions of the ACHPR is led principally by the jurisprudence and documentation of the African Commission and African Court. The text also identifies the overall development of the ACHPR within the broader regional and international human rights legal arena.

Wasiński: The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights

Marek Jan Wasiński (Univ. of Łódź) has published Afrykańska Karta Praw Człowieka i Ludów: Studium podstawy normatywnej / The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights: The Normative Pillar of the African Regional Human Rights System [in Polish] (Univ. of Łódź Press 2017). Here's the abstract:

The Charter and the African human rights regime are surveyed in four parts. Part One shows various historical, social and political factors canvassing the movement towards institutionalised international protection of human rights in Africa which further influenced travaux préparatoires preceding the adoption of the Charter. This part also demonstrates that the interplay of such factors decisively determined the wording of the substantive and procedural provisions of the treaty.

Detailed technical parameters of the said regime are presented in Part Two which discusses a vast array of problems connected with the application of the Charter ratione personae, ratione loci and ratione temporis. This part also covers the implementation of the international human rights in Africa presenting the Charter from the perspective of domestic courts and their jurisprudence.

Part Three contains an in-depth presentation of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights elaborating on its structure, organization, protective mandate, promotional mandate and competence to interpret the Charter. A comprehensive and detailed analysis of the vast Commission's jurisprudence discloses its efforts to overcome institutional and procedural obstacles and to contribute effectively to the development of international human rights law in Africa.

As the Commission had not managed to achieve the aims in their entirety, the African Union decided to establish the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights to supplement the protective mandate of the pre-existing non-judicial body. Hence, Part Four presents the structure, organization and competences of the Court further discussing the problem of complementarity of the Court and the Commission.

The Final Remarks accentuate the conclusion that from the institutional perspective the African human rights system anno Domini 2017 though well established, remains still in flux. In particular, the relation between the Court and the Commission (and at the same time the dynamics of the institutional protection of human rights in Africa) may alter in the future depending on the outcomes of the ongoing reform of the Court supervised by the African Union as well as on the synergy between the organs. The Final Remarks also highlight some selected general dilemmas concerning the African system that still require closer scientific attention.

Pascale: La tutela internazionale dei diritti dell’uomo nel continente africano

Giuseppe Pascale (Università "La Sapienza" di Roma - Law) has published La tutela internazionale dei diritti dell'uomo nel continente africano (Jovene Editore 2017). Here's the abstract:

It is well known that contemporary international law is influenced, at least as for the content of its norms, by a great sensitiveness for the topic of human rights. As a consequence, the doctrine gives nowadays great importance to the problems linked to human rights law. However, often unconsciously, the majority of authors assumes as a matter of fact that human rights law is dominated by a sort of ‘western’ paradigm. So, the doctrine has already written a lot on the treaties, resolutions and mechanisms operating under the aegis of the United Nations. Similarly, on a regional level, the European Human Rights System has always been at the core of a huge number of scientific analysis, while the American Human Rights System has recently begun to stimulate the doctrine. As for the African Human Rights System, several authors have dealt with some of its aspects, even if a complete and critical monograph on this topic has never been published. This book examines the whole African Human Rights System, with special focus on the peculiarities of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, both as for its content and as for its structure. This book also dwells on the African Commission and on the African Court, respectively the quasi-jurisdictional organ and the jurisdictional organ in charge of controlling the respect of the African Charter by the African States. Particular attention is given to the later developments concerning the African Court, which is going to be merged with the Court of Justice of the African Union in the new single African Court of Justice and Human Rights. Then, the 2014 Malabo Protocol is assessed in order to understand the impact on the regional human rights system of the project to add a new competence in the field of criminal international law to the aforementioned single African Court. The main aim of the book is to evaluate the efficiency of the international protection of human rights in the African continent. This aim is reached only to a certain extant according to a comparative analysis with the other two regional systems, which are considered only when necessary. In fact, they have not to be considered as ideal aspirations to which the African Human Rights System has the ambition to resemble. The efficiency of the African Human Rights System is better examined in the light of the cultural, economical, political and social background of the African continent.

Ssenyonjo: The African Regional Human Rights System: 30 Years after the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights

Manisuli Ssenyonjo (Brunel Univ. - Law) has published The African Regional Human Rights System: 30 Years after the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2012). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

The African human rights system has undergone some remarkable developments since the adoption of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the cornerstone of the African human rights system, in June 1981. The year 2011 marked the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the African Charter. It also marked 25 years since the African Charter entered into force on 21 October 1986.

This book aims to provide reflections on most of the major human rights issues in the past 30 years of the African human rights system in practice and discussion on the future: the African Charter’s impact and contribution to the respect, protection and promotion of human rights in Africa; the contemporary challenges faced by the African Human rights system in responding adequately to the demands of rapidly evolving African societies; and how the African human rights system can be strengthened in the future to ensure that the human rights protected in the African Charter, as developed in the jurisprudence of the African Commission since the Commission was inaugurated in 1987, are realised in practice.

The chapters in this volume bring together the work of 20 human rights scholars and practitioners, with expertise in human rights in Africa, under the following general themes: rights and duties in the African Charter; rights of the vulnerable under the African system; implementation mechanisms for human rights in Africa; and towards an effective African regional human rights system.