Afrooz Kaviani Johnson, Julia Sloth-Nielsen, Child protection, safeguarding and the role of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child: Looking back and looking ahead (Ochrona i zabezpieczenie dziecka oraz rola Afrykańskiej Karty Praw i Dobrobytu Dziecka: spojrzenie wstecz i w przyszłość), „African Human Rights Law Journal” 2020, vol. 20, no. 2, ss. 643–666, http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1996-2096/2020/v20n2a13

With 30 years since the adoption of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, this article discusses how the Charter has contributed to understanding and addressing children's rights to protection. Looking back, the article examines the impetus for the Charter in the context of an emerging field of child protection on the continent. Next, the article charts the paradigm shift in the child protection sector that occurred after the adoption of the Charter and the gradual development of African jurisprudence on child protection and safeguarding. This analysis is based on a comprehensive review of Concluding Observations and Recommendations by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and relevant documents, including General Comment 5 on State Party Obligations under the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (article 1) and Systems Strengthening for Child Protection. Looking ahead, the article posits future directions for child protection and safeguarding, including addressing new risks and harms enabled by digital technology. In conclusion, the article underscores the importance of the Children's Committee in articulating African perspectives and catalysing state party action to realise children's rights to protection in accordance with the Charter. Through the state party reporting process and with reference to General Comment 5 and forthcoming guidance, the Committee can continue meaningful dialogue with state parties to address persistent and new challenges to child protection taking a systemic approach.

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The African Children's Charter and ending corporal punishment of children in Africa: A work in progress

African Human Rights Law Journal ◽

10.17159/1996-2096/2021/v21n1a5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sonia Vohito

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Corporal Punishment ◽

Children's Rights ◽

Children’S Rights ◽

Violence Against Children ◽

Thirtieth Anniversary ◽

Welfare Of The Child ◽

African Charter ◽

Legal Barriers

SUMMARY Corporal punishment is the most common form of violence against children worldwide, including in Africa. Corporal punishment violates children's rights to respect for their human dignity and physical integrity. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child provides for every child's right to be protected from violence and ill-treatment. The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and other human rights bodies consistently examine states on their progress towards prohibiting and eliminating corporal punishment. In the context of the thirtieth anniversary of the African Children's Charter, this article aims to examine the progress made towards the prohibition and elimination of corporal punishment of children in all settings, in Africa. It highlights the challenges and shortcomings in implementing this campaign in Africa. The role of the African Children's Committee in promoting and protecting the human rights imperative to prohibit corporal punishment of children is also examined, especially as regards the legal barriers to end the corporal punishment of children in Africa. Key words: African Children's Charter; children's rights; corporal punishment; Agenda 2040

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The Influence of the Two Covenants on States Parties Across Regions

10.1093/oso/9780198825890.003.0011 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Samantha Besson

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Domestic Institutions ◽

International Human Rights Law ◽

Human Rights Law ◽

International Human Rights ◽

The Third ◽

International Human ◽

Domestic Influence ◽

Domestic Law

As a companion to the five regional reports in this volume, this chapter’s aim is a double one: first, to bring the comparison up to the regional level, and second, to analyse the international and domestic institutions, procedures, and mechanisms that affect how international human rights instruments influence domestic law. The chapter is therefore both a study in comparative international human rights law and a contribution to its methodology. Its structure is four-pronged. The first section clarifies the aim, object, and method of the comparison. The second section presents a comparative assessment of the Covenants’ domestic influence across regions and develops a grid of comparative analysis. The third section addresses the authority of the Committees’ interpretations of the Covenants, relying on a bottom-up comparative law argument. The fourth section discusses the role of human rights comparison and of regional human rights law in enhancing the legitimacy of the Committees’ future interpretations.

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

Journal of African Law ◽

10.1017/s002185532100005x ◽

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.

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A Commentary on the African Commission's General Comment on the Right to Freedom of Movement and Residence under Article 12(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Journal of African Law ◽

10.1017/s0021855321000061 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-21

Author(s):

Romola Adeola ◽

Frans Viljoen ◽

Trésor Makunya Muhindo

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

International Human Rights Law ◽

Human Rights Law ◽

International Human Rights ◽

Freedom Of Movement ◽

Number Of Factors ◽

African Charter ◽

The Right ◽

Domestic Level ◽

African Commission

Abstract In 2019, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights adopted General Comment No 5 on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: The Right to Freedom of Movement and Residence (Article 12(1)). In this general comment, the commission elaborated on the right to freedom of movement and residence within state borders. This issue, while explicit in international human rights law, is a challenge within various jurisdictions, including in Africa. This article provides a background to and commentary on General Comment No 5, leveraging on the insight of the authors, who participated in its drafting. Unlike the UN Human Rights Committee's earlier general comment, General Comment No 5 provides detailed guidance on the internal dimension of the right to free movement and residence. As “soft law”, its persuasive force depends on a number of factors, including its use at the domestic level, its visibility and its integration into regional human rights jurisprudence.

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Social movements, reframing investment relations, and enhancing the application of human rights norms in international investment law

Leiden Journal of International Law ◽

10.1017/s0922156520000643 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-28

Author(s):

Moshe Hirsch

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Social Movements ◽

International Investment ◽

Human Rights Law ◽

International Investment Law ◽

Investment Arbitration ◽

Public Pressure ◽

Local Actors ◽

Investment Law

Abstract The recent moderate trend to increasingly apply human rights law in investment awards is accompanied by certain new investment treaties which include expressed human rights provisions. An analysis of recent investment awards indicates that though there are some ‘winds of change’ in this field, it is equally noticeable that human rights law is far from being mainstreamed in international investment law. Investment arbitration procedural law is also undergoing a process of change, and the new procedural rules tend to enhance public elements in the investment arbitral system. This study is aimed at explaining these recent legal changes, highlighting the role of social movements in reframing investment relations as well as increasing public pressure to apply human rights law. These framing changes concern broadening the frame of investment arbitration (beyond the foreign investor–host state dyad), reversing the perceived balance of power between investors and host states, and zooming-in on local individuals and communities residing in host states. The discussion on factors impeding legal change in this field emphasizes the role of the private legal culture prevalent in the investment arbitration system, which is reflected and reinforced by certain resilient socio-legal frames. Informed by this analysis, the study suggests some legal mechanisms which can mitigate the inter-partes frame, and increase the application of human rights law in investment arbitration; inter alia, rigorous transparency rules that are likely to facilitate increased public pressure on tribunals and increase the participation of social movements representing local actors in arbitral processes.

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Debt Crisis and Learning – Replying to Two Stimulating Reviews

Accounting Economics and Law - A Convivium ◽

10.1515/ael-2019-0063 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky ◽

Kunibert Raffer

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Sovereign Debt ◽

Debt Crisis ◽

Equal Treatment ◽

Human Rights Law ◽

Policy Space ◽

Debt Crises

AbstractThis piece tackles Barrio Arleo and Lienau’s comments on Sovereign Debt Crises: What Have We Learned? while tries to further develop some ideas and discussions proposed in the book. This piece deals with existing alternatives to overcome debt crises, the link between sovereign policy space and the principle of creditors’ equal treatment, who the target of the book is (and should be), whether “learning is enough”, and the potential policy and legal role of human rights law in debt restructurings.

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