OFFICIAL BULLETIN VOLUME 1, MAY 2020
A Publication of the Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights
In This Issue:
- About Us
- About the Topic of Discussion
- Comments from Members and Partners
About the Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights
The Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (the African Court Coalition) is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that was formed during the first conference for the promotion of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights establishing the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights in Niamey, Niger in May 2003. The key purpose for its establishment is to advocate for an effective and independent African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (the African Court).
Our mission is to ensure that the African Court is effective and accessible through capacity building trainings, education, information documentation and dissemination, research, advocacy, lobbying and networking. The African Court Coalition is a membership based organisation made up with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), human rights institutions, legal and non-legal practitioners and individual members.
About the Discussion Topic
This publication contains comments from members and partners of the African Court Coalition with regards to withdrawals by member states from Article 34(6) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples' rights (The African Court Protocol).
For individuals and NGOs with observer status before the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to file cases directly before the African Court, member states must first deposit the required Declaration under Article 34(6) of the African Court Protocol to allow such access. In the span of four years (2016-2020), four member states (Rwanda, Tanzania, Benin and Cote d'Ivoire) have withdrawn from that particular Declaration which in essence limits direct access for individuals and relevant NGOs to file cases before the African Court. Currently there are only 6 member states that have deposited the Declaration under Article 34(6) of the African Court Protocol, these are; Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Malawi, The Gambia and Tunisia. Following such series of member states withdrawals, the African Court Coalition members and partners express their views on the circumstance.
Some comments herein are comments that have been published in other sources but they have been included in this publication with the permission from the authors who are members and/or partners of the African Court Coalition.
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COMMENTS FROM MEMBERS AND PARTNERS