{"id":136,"date":"2020-04-02T11:58:58","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T08:58:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.african-court.org\/wpafc\/?page_id=136"},"modified":"2025-06-15T18:45:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T15:45:21","slug":"how-to-file-a-case-3","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.african-court.org\/afchpr\/how-to-file-a-case-3\/","title":{"rendered":"How to File a Case"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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How to File a Case<\/h1>\n <\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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What is the jurisdiction of the Court? <\/div><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg><\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/summary>\n\t\t\t\t
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Contentious Jurisdiction of the Court<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Under Article 3 of the Protocol, the Court has jurisdiction to deal with all cases and disputes submitted to it regarding the interpretation and\u00a0\u00a0 application of the Charter, the Protocol and any other relevant human rights instrument ratified by the concerned States.<\/p>

The Court can only deal with cases submitted against Countries that have ratified the Protocol and deposited the Article 34(6) Declaration in cases involving individuals and Non-Governmental Organisations. The case must involve allegations of human rights and those alleged violations must have taken place in the State concerned after it ratified the Protocol, unless the alleged violations are on-going.<\/p>

Advisory Jurisdiction of the Court<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Under Article 4 of the Protocol, the Court may, at the request of a Member State of the African Union, any of the organs of the African Union, or any African organization recognized by the African Union, provide an opinion on any legal matter relating to the Charter or any other relevant human rights instruments, provided that the subject matter of the opinion is not related to a matter being examined by the Commission.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/details>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Who can file applications before the Court? <\/div><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg><\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/summary>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Court may receive cases filed by<\/p>

(1) the African Commission on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights<\/strong><\/p>

(2) State Parties to the Protocol or African Intergovernmental Organizations<\/strong><\/p>

(3) non-governmental organizations with observer status before the African Commission and individuals<\/strong>*<\/p>

*as long as the State against which the application is brought has deposited the declaration recognizing the jurisdiction of the Court to accept cases from individuals and NGOs.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/details>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

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What sort of applications can be filed before the Court? <\/div><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg><\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/summary>\n\t\t\t\t
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The decision whether an application to the Court \u00a0can be considered or not depends on whether it deals with a matter that is within the Court\u2019s Jurisdiction.<\/p>

Jurisdiction is the competence of \u00a0the Court to decide on matters brought before it. \u00a0The scope of the jurisdiction of the African Court on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights is set out in the Protocol to the African Charter. According to this instrument, the Court has material jurisdiction over allegations relating to violations of human rights contained in the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights or any other human rights instrument ratified by the State concerned.<\/p>