The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Court) is a continental court established by Member States of the African Union to ensure the protection of human and peoples’ rights in Africa. The Court was established by virtue of Article 1 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Protocol). In fact, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which is the fact the main African human rights instrument that sets out the rights and duties relating to human and peoples’ rights in Africa, provides a framework within which the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights was created.
The mandate of the Court is to complement and reinforce the functions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Commission – often referred to as the Banjul Commission), which is a quasi-judicial body charged with monitoring the implementation of the Charter.
The Protocol establishing the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights was adopted on 9 June 1998 in Burkina Faso and came into force on 25 January 2004 after it was ratified by more than 15 countries. The Court has its permanent seat in Arusha, the United Republic of Tanzania.
