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

scholarly journals 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

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.

scholarly journals Investigations on the Use of Limitations to Freedom of Religion or Belief in Brazil

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 77-95
Author(s):  
Thiago Alves Pinto ◽  
Rodrigo Vitorino Souza Alves
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Domestic Legislation ◽  
Domestic Courts ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The Right ◽  
International Instruments

Abstract The present article analyses cases from top Brazilian courts and has received contributions from several scholars, practitioners, and public officials to better understand the use of limitations to freedom of religion or belief in the country. The Brazilian Constitution provides for the right to freedom of religion or belief as a fundamental right, and other domestic legislation regulate the right, including those implementing international human rights treaties that Brazil has ratified. These laws are easily accessible. Nevertheless, domestic courts seldom rely on such international instruments or the case-law of international bodies in their judgments. Therefore, although these instruments are in force in Brazil, domestic courts do not expressly use or refer to the clauses of permissible limitations of the relevant international and regional human rights instruments, creating a scenario with low levels of legal certainty for those seeking the protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief.

The Right to Compensation for Wrongful Conviction/Miscarriage of Justice in International Law

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-244
Author(s):  
Jamil Ddamulira Mujuzi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Wrongful Conviction ◽  
European Court ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Right ◽  
African Commission ◽  
Miscarriage Of Justice

Human rights treaties (including Article 14(6) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (iccpr); Article 3 of the Protocol No. 7 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; and Article 10 of the American Convention on Human Rights) explicitly protect the right to compensation for wrongful conviction or miscarriage of justice. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights is silent on this right. The Human Rights Committee, the European Court of Human Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have developed rich jurisprudence on the ambit of the right to compensation for wrongful conviction or miscarriage of justice. States have adopted different approaches to give effect to their obligation under Article 14(6) of the iccpr. Relying on the practice and/or jurisprudence from States in Africa, Europe, North America, Asia, and Latin America and on the jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee, the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the article illustrates the approaches taken by some States to give effect to Article 14(6) of the iccpr and the relevant regional human rights instruments.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and its promotion and protection of the right to freedom from discrimination

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-136
Author(s):  
Jamil Ddamulira Mujuzi
Keyword(s):  
State Party ◽  
African Charter ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right ◽  
African Commission

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Commission, was established by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Charter, with the mandate to promote and protect human and peoples’ rights in Africa. The right to freedom from discrimination is one of the rights provided for in the African Charter. In this article, the author examines the individual communications, state party reports, concluding observations of the African Commission on state party reports and the resolutions passed by the African Commission to highlight the ways in which the African Commission has promoted and protected the right to freedom from discrimination.

The right to freedom from discrimination in Rwanda

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 156-180
Author(s):  
Jamil Ddamulira Mujuzi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
The State ◽  
National Unity ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Right

Discrimination is prohibited in different provisions of the 2003 Constitution of Rwanda (the Constitution), in different pieces of legislation and in international and regional human rights treaties ratified by Rwanda. According to the 2003 Constitution, one of the fundamental principles which have to be upheld by the State is the ‘eradication of discrimination and divisionism based on ethnicity, region or on any other ground as well as promotion of national unity’. Article 15 of the Constitution provides for equality before the law and Article 16 of the Constitution prohibits discrimination and it provides for the grounds on which a person shall not be discriminated against. Rwanda is also one of the very few African countries whose constitutions criminalise discrimination and different laws have been enacted to deal with the offence of discrimination. The Supreme Court of Rwanda, the highest court in the country, has handed down decisions on Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution. The purpose of this article is to analyse these decisions and illustrate how the Supreme Court has dealt with the issues such as the definition of discrimination and the difference between discrimination and differentiation. The author also discusses the issues that the Rwandan judiciary and prosecutors are likely to face when dealing with the offence of discrimination.

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.

Disparaging Language (ex curia) as a Barrier in Individual Complaints before the European Court of Human Rights (Zhdanov v Russia)—Lessons for the African System?

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelo Dube
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
European Court ◽  
European System ◽  
African Charter ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Right ◽  
Court Process ◽  
Individual Petition ◽  
African Commission

On 16 July 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rejected an application by Russian human rights activist, Nikolay Alekseyev, on the basis that he had published personally offensive and threatening material online, directed towards the ECtHR. This was in the matter of Zhdanov and Others v Russia Applications Nos 12200/08, 35949/11 and 58282/12. Even though the published material fell afoul of the European Convention in that it amounted to an abuse of the court process, nothing offensive was contained in the applicant’s own submissions before the court. In like fashion to the ECtHR’s admissibility requirements, the African Charter contains a much more pointed exclusionary clause which renders inadmissible any communication that contains disparaging or insulting language. The difference between the two systems is that the European system relies on an open-ended concept of ‘abuse of the right of individual petition’, whilst the African system specifically proscribes insulting language. In this article, I analyse the approach of the ECtHR in the Zhdanov matter, and contrast it with the approach of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Commission) under Article 56(3) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. I further interrogate whether there were any instances where, in similar fashion to the Zhdanov matter, the African Commission declared a communication inadmissible on account of insulting language occurring externally, and not contained within the submission itself. Alive to the fact that the concept of ‘abuse’ in the European system is wide, the article is limited to cases in which the abuse of the right of individual petition under the European Convention manifests in disparaging or insulting language.

scholarly journals Governance, Peace and Human Rights Violations in Africa: Addressing the Application of the Right to Self-Determination in Post-Independence Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-214
Author(s):  
Mtendeweka Mhango
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
African Charter ◽  
The Right ◽  
Human Rights Violation ◽  
Peace And Development ◽  
African Commission

Abstract Recent claims of self-determination in post-independence Africa have put pressure on African regional judicial bodies to define the scope of this right. This article examines governance, peace and human rights violation issues in the context of the application of the right to self-determination in post-independence Africa. It scrutinizes the ruling by the African Commission in Katangese Peoples Congress v. Zaire, and argues that this ruling exhibits the African Commission’s encouraging view of self-determination under the African Charter, and the likely recognition of a right to an autonomy regime in post-independence Africa. The article maintains that many of the legal issues in Katanga will likely be raised again, either before the African Commission or the African Court, due to recent and increased claims of self-determination by groups within African states. It examines whether the recognition of a right to autonomy regime could have positive impact on good governance, peace and development in Africa.

scholarly journals Justiciability of the Right to Development in Ghana: Mirage or Possibility?

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-98
Author(s):  
Asare Larbi Paa Kwame
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
National Level ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Human Right ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Right To Development ◽  
Legal Effect ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
African Charter ◽  
The Right

An analysis of the debate on the right to development (RTD) suggests that the right is pursued as a solution to solve the problems of poverty and underdevelopment. Thus, this study seeks to determine if at the national level in Ghana, the right to development is a right which is opposable by right-holders against the duty bearers. The Study adopted the Black Letter Law approach in analysing the legal effect of relevant law. This study shows that the African Charter is the only multinational treaty that makes RTD legally enforceable. It also shows that Ghana, which is dualist, has not ratified the African Charter. It is however argued that the Ghanaian courts may enforce RTD either as international law or as a human right implicitly guaranteed under the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. This conclusion supports the notion that development is a human rights concern. It further illustrates that the national courts of African countries are uniquely equipped to guarantee the protection of human rights and the development of the African people.

Reforming the Role of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Advancing Democratic Principles and Human Rights in African Countries: An Examination Using the Lens of Swaziland/ eSwatini

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Sarkin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Individual Country ◽  
The Status ◽  
Effective Role ◽  
Limited Compliance ◽  
Fact Finding ◽  
Democratic Principles ◽  
African Commission

This article explores the role of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the role it plays regarding human rights in individual country situations in Africa. It specifically examines the extent to which it has been able to advance a human rights agenda in countries with long-standing human rights problems. The article uses Swaziland/ eSwatini as a lens to examine the matter, because of the longstanding problems that exist in that country. This is done to indicate how the institution works over time on a country’s human rights problems. The article examines a range of institutional structural matters to establish how these issues affect the role of the Commission in its work. The article examines the way in which the Commission uses its various tools, including its communications, the state reporting processes, fact-finding visits, and resolutions, to determine whether those tools are being used effectively. The article examines how the Commission’s processes issues also affect it work. Issues examined negatively affecting the Commission are examined, including problems with the status of its resolutions and communications, limited compliance with its outcomes, and inadequate state cooperation. Reforms necessary to enhance to role and functions of the Commission are surveyed to determine how the institution could become more effective. The African Union’s (AU|) Kagame Report on AU reform is briefly reviewed to examine the limited view and focus of AU reform processes and why AU reform ought to focus on enhancing human rights compliance. The article makes various suggestions on necessary institutional reforms but also as far as the African Commission’s procedures and methods of work to allow it to have a far more effective role in the promotion and protection of human rights on the continent. It is noted that political will by the AU and African states is the largest obstacle to giving the Commission the necessary independence, support and assistance that it needs to play the role in Africa that it should.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document