Essay writing competition deadlines extended
New proposed draft programme for the Essay competition
The Court’s first session Outside Tanzania
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Institutional Background
The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (African Court) was established by the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, which was adopted by Member States of the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in June 1998. The Protocol entered into force on 25 January 2004.(Link to the Protocol)
The first Judges of the African Court were elected in January 2006, in Khartoum, The Sudan. They were sworn in before the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union on 2 July 2006, in Banjul, The Gambia. The Judges were elected in their individual capacities from among African jurists and judges of proven integrity, qualifications and experience, having been nominated by African Union Member States. The election was also based on equitable representation of the five African Union regions, the major legal systems and gender. Elections have since been held in July 2008 and July 2010 to re-elect and/or replace Judges whose terms had lapsed. The President of the African Court is resident and works full time at its seat while the other ten (10) Judges work on a part-time basis.
The African Court started its operations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in November 2006 but moved to its seat in Arusha, Tanzania in August 2007. It has now firmly established itself in Arusha where the government of the United Republic of Tanzania has provided it with temporary premises pending the construction of its permanent structure.(Link to Host Agreement with Tanzania)
The Court has since its establishment held twenty one Ordinary sessions and two Extra-Ordinary Sessions. During the first of these sessions, between 2006 and 2008, the Court dealt with operationalisation issues including, the development of the structure of the Court's Registry and development of its budget. The Policy Organs of the African Union approved the initial structure of the Court's Registry, and are now considering a revised structure in view of the fact that the Court is now engaged with judicial work.
More importantly, the African Court completed the complex but crucial task of drafting its Rules, which were adopted provisionally during the Court's Ninth Ordinary Session in June 2008 pending the process of consultation with the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, based in Banjul, The Gambia. The Protocol establishing the Court required the two institutions to harmonise their respective Rules so as to achieve the intended complemenarity between them. This harmonisation process was completed following three meetings held in July and October 2009 and April 2010. The Court now has final Rules of Court. (Link to the Rules of Court) since June 2008, the Court was ready to receive cases.,