International instruments. States parties to the 1981 African charter on human and peoples' rights

2001 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 218-220
Keyword(s):  
African Charter ◽  
International Instruments

The International Evolution of the Right of Children to Social Security

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 484-503
Author(s):  
Gugulethu Nkosi
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Legal Documents ◽  
Welfare Of The Child ◽  
African Charter ◽  
The Right ◽  
Scarcity Of Resources ◽  
International Instruments ◽  
Social Security Beneficiaries

This article seeks to provide an analysis of the right of children to social security as provided for in the various international legal instruments, and as assimilated in other legal documents. Furthermore, it argues that scarcity of resources prevents children from enjoying socio-economic rights, including the right to social security adopted through international instruments and entrenched in domestic laws. The Convention on the Rights of a Child provides for the right to social security in the event of lack of resources to benefit the child. So does the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. In all the said legal instruments, the clauses on social security do not explicitly prescribe the rights that ought to be promoted through it. However, since the jurisprudence on socio-economic rights= emphasises the view that socio-economic rights are interrelated, interdependent and indivisible, it can also be safely said that through social security, beneficiaries, that is children, should be able to enjoy access to other socio-economic rights in general. Therefore, the significance of the right to social security as a means to address poverty and facilitate the development of children is explored.

scholarly journals The right to return to one's country in Africa: Article 12(2) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamil D Mujuzi
Keyword(s):  
Arab World ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Foreign Nationals ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
African Charter ◽  
The Right ◽  
International Instruments ◽  
Broad Approach ◽  
African Commission

SUMMARY At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic many African countries barred people, including citizens and foreign nationals, from entering or leaving their territories. This was the case although article 12(2) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights provides that '[ejvery individual shall have the right to leave any country including his own, and to return to his country'. However, article 12(2) also provides that '[t]his right may only be subject to restrictions, provided for by law for the protection of national security, law and order, public health or morality'. Article 12(2) of the African Charter provides for the rights both to leave and to return to one's country. In this article the discussion is limited to the right to return. Unlike other regional human rights treaties in Europe, the Americas and the Arab world where the right to return to or enter one's country is reserved for citizens only, the African Charter does not expressly limit this right to citizens. This raises the question of whether the right to return to one's country is reserved for citizens or nationals only. In answering this question, one of two arguments could be made. The first argument is that the right to return under article 12(2) is reserved for citizens only (the strict approach). The second argument is that it is applicable to both citizens and to a few categories of foreign nationals (the broader approach). The jurisprudence of the African Commission and the African Court shows that these bodies have adopted the strict approach. This could be attributed to the fact that the communications they have so far dealt with have been filed by citizens (de jure or de facto,) or on behalf of citizens. However, these bodies are likely to adopt a broad approach should the facts of the case(s) so require. In the constitutions of most African countries, states have also taken a strict approach. This article explains why it is better to take a broader approach when dealing with article 12(2) of the African Charter. This argument is made by partly comparing and contrasting article 12(2) of the African Charter with other regional and international instruments that protect the right to return. The article also demonstrates how the right to enter or return to one's county has been approached in the constitutions of different African countries. Key words: return; article 12(2); African Charter; one's country; entry; African Court; African Commission

POLITICS-LAW CONVERGENCE OR DIVERGENCE? 'SMALL' POLITICAL PARTIES, REALPOLITIKAND SOUTH AFRICA'S 20 YEARS OF DEMOCRACY

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kealeboga J Maphunye
Keyword(s):  
Game Theory ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Democratic Consolidation ◽  
Secondary Research ◽  
Extant Literature ◽  
African Charter

This article examines South Africa's 20-year democracy by contextualising the roles of the 'small' political parties that contested South Africa's 2014 elections. Through the  prism  of South  Africa's  Constitution,  electoral legislation  and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, it examines these parties' roles in South Africa's democratisation; their influence,  if any, in parliament, and whether they play any role in South Africa's continental or international engagements. Based on a review of the extant literature, official documents,  legislation, media, secondary research, reports and the results of South Africa's elections, the article relies on game theory, rational choice theory and theories of democracy and democratic consolidation to examine 'small' political parties' roles in the country's political and legal systems. It concludes that the roles of 'small' parties in governance and democracy deserve greater recognition than is currently the case, but acknowledges the extreme difficulty experienced by the 'small'  parties in playing a significant role in democratic consolidation, given their formidable opponent in a one-party dominant system.

International Criminalization of Offences Relating to Cultural Property

2019 ◽  
pp. 18-24
Author(s):  
Danil Sergeev
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Historical Review ◽  
Hague Convention ◽  
Cultural Property ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Cultural Value ◽  
Direct Connection ◽  
International Protection ◽  
International Instruments

The article evaluates current conditions of international criminalization of offences relating to cultural property and makes a brief historical review of developing international protection of cultural property and elaborating a corresponding notion. Having analyzed the international instruments, the author concludes that offences relating to cultural property may include deliberate seizure, appropriation, demolition as well as any other forms of destruction or damage to objects and items protected under the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict committed during international and non-international armed conflicts. These offences do not include such possible acts toward universal cultural values committed either beyond any armed conflict or without direct connection with it. Taking the examples of destruction of Buddhas of Bamiyan, Nimrud, Palmyra, and mausoleums of Timbuktu, the author states that international criminalization of offences relating to cultural property is insufficient, because it does not encompass such cases when objects or items of cultural value are damaged or destroyed under the control of national administrations or with their knowledge.

The Regional Law of Refugee Protection in Africa

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Sharpe
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
African Unity ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
Original Analysis ◽  
The Status ◽  
Organization Of African Unity ◽  
African Charter ◽  
African Refugee ◽  
Institutional Architecture

This book analyses the legal framework for refugee protection in Africa, including both refugee and human rights law as well as treaty and institutional elements. The regime is addressed in two parts. Part I analyses the relevant treaties: the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, and the 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The latter two regional instruments are examined in depth. This includes the first fulsome account of the African Refugee Convention’s drafting, an interpretation of its unique refugee definition, and original analysis of the relationships between the three treaties. Significant attention is devoted to the systemic relationship between the international and the regional refugee treaties and to the discrete relationships of conflict and relationships of interpretation between the two refugee instruments, as well as to the relationships of conflict and of interpretation between the African Refugee Convention and African Charter. Part II focuses on the institutional architecture supporting the treaty framework. The Organization of African Unity is addressed in a historical sense, and the contemporary roles of the African Union, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the current and contemplated African human rights courts are examined. This book is the first devoted to the legal framework for refugee protection in Africa.

Right to Protection against Sexual Abuse and Exploitation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asha Bajpai
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Commercial Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Child Victims ◽  
Sexual Offences ◽  
Minor Children ◽  
Marriage Laws ◽  
Education Act ◽  
International Instruments

Child sexual abuse and exploitation covers the sexual maltreatment of both children and young people. Part A deals with child sexual abuse (CSA) in India, its magnitude, and child sexual abuse in institutions. It deals with the national legal regime relating to CSA including the constitutional provisions, Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO). Law reform relating to some provisions in POCSO, child marriage laws, Right to Education Act and, and child victims and witnesses is recommended. Part B deals with commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of minor children in the context of organized exploitation for commercial gain. The Indian laws dealing with commercial sexual exploitation and pornography are included. Important judgements and international instruments dealing with child sexual abuse and exploitation and the important role played by NGOs and government in dealing with cases of CSA and exploitation are included.

Conflict of Laws and the Return of Indigenous Peoples’ Cultural Property: A Latin American Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-456
Author(s):  
María Julia Ochoa Jiménez
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Latin American ◽  
National Level ◽  
Cultural Property ◽  
Cultural Value ◽  
Property A ◽  
American Perspective ◽  
International Instruments ◽  
Conflict Of Law

Abstract:In Latin America, conflict-of-law norms have not appropriately considered the cultural diversity that exists in their legal systems. However, developments towards the recognition of Indigenous peoples’ human rights, at the international and national levels, impose the task of considering such diversity. In that regard, within the conflict-of-law realm, interpersonal law offers a useful perspective. This article proposes a conflict-of-law rule that can contribute to clarity and legal certainty, offering a sound way of dealing at the national level with Indigenous peoples’ claims for restitution of property with a cultural value for them, which is framed in international instruments on human rights.

scholarly journals The Protection of Internally Displaced Children in Africa: A Doctrinal Analysis of Article 23(4) of the African Children's Charter

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Romola Adeola ◽  
Benyam D Mezmur
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Internal Displacement ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Welfare Of The Child ◽  
Displaced Children ◽  
African Charter

Abstract This article considers the protection of, and assistance for, internally displaced children (IDCs) in Africa. Internal displacement has become one of Africa's most pressing human rights challenges. Over the last decade, millions of persons have been internally displaced on the continent by conflict, disaster and other causes. Children are one of the most affected categories of persons, given the implications of displacement for them. Article 23(4) of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child incorporates specific protection for IDCs. This article examines the protection of IDCs in the context of this regional framework. It argues that, while article 23(4) requires that both refugee children and IDCs should be accorded the same protection from a rights-based perspective, it also requires that the protection of IDCs should be construed with reference to the Kampala Convention, which is the most recent applicable regional regime governing internal displacement.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document