Towards Speedy Trials: Reforming the Practice of Adjudicating Cases in the African Human Rights System
The University for Peace Law Review, Vol. 1, No. 14, 2010
25 Pages Posted: 13 Feb 2012
Date Written: April 10, 2010
Abstract
This article highlights weaknesses with the adjudicative mechanism of the African Human Rights Systems which the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) has been following and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Court) has started to follow. The focus of the article is on the African Commission which has been operational for more than 20 years rather than on the African Court which only had its first case decided in December 2009. Among several weaknesses, this article focuses on the unsound organization of the litigation procedure which has resulted in intolerable delay in disposing communications or cases and in low-quality conclusions. Even though the African Commission recently revised its Rules of Procedure, regrettably, insufficient reform has been made. The procedure the African Court followed in disposing its first case is disappointing. The article offers suggestions for further improvement. Some lessons are drawn from the experience of the Inter-American Human Rights System.
Keywords: African, Commission, Court, Human, Rights, Communications, Delay
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