- His Excellency Yemi Osinbajo, Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
- His Excellency Kassim Majaliwa, Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania
- Her Excellency Liberata Mulamula, Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania
- His Excellency Moussa Faki, Chairperson of the African Union Commission
- His Excellency Blaise Tchikaya, Vice-President of the African
Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights - Your Excellencies the Representatives of the Presidents of the International and Regional Courts here present
- Your Excellencies Ministers, and other government officials here present
- Honourable Judges of the African Court
- Honourable Judges of International, Regional and National Courts in attendance
- Most honourable guests
- Ladies and gentlemen
Karibu Arusha, whether you are attending this event in person or virtually. I am pleased, on behalf of the African Court family and my own behalf, to welcome you to what will be carved in history as the first ever opening of a judicial year of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Please, permit me to extend special appreciation to authorities of the United Republic of Tanzania for the invaluable support provided to the Court in organising this event especially facilities extended to the various personalities who have decided to travel from outside the seat of the Court to grace this Opening with their presence.
Your Excellencies, Honourable colleagues, and Distinguished guests,
Ceremonies marking the official opening of judicial years represent a widespread tradition among courts and tribunals in both the national and international spheres. Such an event usually serves the important purpose of formally launching a particular year by restating to the public not only the continued commitment of a court to its mandate but in particular by reflecting on some of the relevant ongoing events and activities of the institution. Some of you may therefore rightly wonder why it took the African Court more than fifteen years to hold an official opening of a judicial year.
My attempt to satisfy your query is that while the Court has been holding informal openings of its annual activities, the choice to organise this first ever public opening crystalizes the need to obey both tradition and context. It is therefore as a matter of course that my opening remarks revolve around these two pointers: tradition and context; and I believe it is only logical to begin with context.
Your Excellencies, Honourable colleagues, and Distinguished guests,
As far as context is concerned, we have decided to hold this first Opening of the Judicial Year under the theme “The African Court and the Africa We Want”. As many of you are aware, “The African We Want” is the foundational slogan that drives the 50 year development plan adopted by African leaders under the aegis of the African Union. “The African We Want” was decided by all African Heads of State and is being implemented by top leadership of the continent and it expressly recognises that “The African We Want” is an African of respect for human rights, the rule of law and democracy.
Against this umbrella background, the choice of the theme for this Opening of the Judicial Year of the African is therefore inspired by the current context in which the African Court operates.
Firstly, the African Court operates in a context of overall reform of the African Union including its Commission and Organs. Over the past three years, the top leadership of the African Union has decided to reform the Organisation not only for efficiency through synergy but also for perspective rethinking of where Africa wishes to be in the next 50 years.
Secondly, the African Court operates today in a context of legitimacy crisis as four of the ten states that have recognised the jurisdiction of the Court have disengaged in the space of four years. Engagement by the Court’s leadership with policy makers of the African Union reveals that states disengagement is only the manifestation of a change of perspective from the standpoint of establishment of the Court in 1998. Such disengagement also raises the question of how Member States and the African Union apprehend the Court today and the role they envisage the Court to play in the forthcoming decades as part of the overall realisation of the African Union Agenda 2063.
Finally, in 2022, the African Court also operates against the permanent interrogation of where it does and should fit in the realisation of the regional integration project pursued by the African Union as an inter-governmental organisation.
Your Excellencies, Honourable colleagues, and Distinguished guests,
You may now understand the pertinence of opening our judicial year under the aegis of context, that is the context of the African We Want in which the African Court is called to operate. So, What African do We Want? And What African Court do We Want in that Africa? It is important to recall that this opening of the judicial year for 2022 occurs in a socio-political context marked on the one hand by the celebration of the sixteenth year of operation of the African Court but on the other hand by an unprecedented resurgence of attacks on human rights and democracy in Africa since the 1990s.
As I will revert to later in my remarks, attacks on democracy are only emblematic of the challenges faced by the Court although the democracy crisis is a global phenomenon. In the past fifteen years, the African Court has undisputedly positioned itself as an icon in Africa and within the African Union in delivering human rights justice but also as a monitor and guardian of socio-political governance in the continent.
In giving full life to the pledge made by African States pursuant to Article 13 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Court has indeed contributed its part to safeguarding political freedoms, free and fair elections, and the rule of law. It did so among others in cases involving electoral rights in Benin, independence of electoral bodies in Côte d’Ivoire, freedom of speech in Rwanda and independent candidates in Tanzania.
In considering the several instances of unconstitutional changes of government that occurred in Africa over the past two years, it is undeniable that there is an urgent need to strengthen socio-political dialogue in the continent. The contribution made by the Court in this respect should therefore be acknowledged as it effectively enforces some of the relevant norms adopted by African States under the aegis of the African Union. Those of you who have expressed interest in the work of the Court since its inception certainly noted its significant achievements in discharging its mandate.
While I do not believe this is the best befitting occasion to restate the comprehensive contribution of the African Court to Africa’s regional integration, I find it of utmost importance to recall that the Court has been facing tremendous challenges in the recent years. In sticking to context, chief among these challenges is the trend of States disengagement from the jurisdiction of the Court.
Not so surprisingly, the entire Court has swiftly embarked on a new approach to judicial diplomacy by taking advantage of the overall bid to institutional reform led by the African Union. As far as the Court is concerned, the judicial year that opens today is unavoidably critical in the sense that it capitalises on recent efforts in bringing back Member States as the most active stakeholders of human rights justice in Africa.
Bilateral and multilateral engagements spearheaded by the Bureau of the African Court have caused Member States to agree to holding a retreat between the Court and the Permanent Representative Committee of the African Union; and the retreat should be happening in about just a week here at the seat of the Court in Arusha.
The main question set for discussion during this high-level meeting is how much has been achieved and what should be done next in the operation of the African Court as a tool in realising the “African We Want” slogan strongly pursued by African States under Agenda 2063. As an African Court, we strongly believe and hope that the retreat will allow us to provide determinant answers to these critical issues in the interests of the African Union, of Africa but most importantly in the interest of the peoples of Africa.
Your Excellencies, Honourable colleagues, and Distinguished guests,
Now, allow me to speak to tradition in respect of the aims that this opening of the judicial year is expected to achieve. As I have just stated, judicial diplomacy will be at the heart of the Court’s endeavour in the year 2022. Judicial diplomacy is also one of the main pillars of our strategic plan for the next five years. The ultimate goal that the Court seeks to achieve is the establishment of a formal framework for permanent engagement with Member States as the main actors of human rights justice in Africa. Of course, African civil society cannot be left out in attempting to engage States on their primary commitment to human rights.
I am also delighted to announce that, in the course of this year, the African Court will strengthen its institutional and technical apparatus by pursuing the implementation of various projects.
- The Court will expand the digitalisation of its proceedings, and processes including management of cases;
- it will further its already ongoing process for faster processing of applications and completion of cases;
- it will strengthen and realign international judicial cooperation by ensuring that Africa’s innovative approach to human rights justice is better shown to the rest of the world;
- it will spearhead synergy among African Union institutions with similar mandates pertaining to human rights justice and governance;
- it will continue efforts to foster legal aid, litigant friendly access to Court tools, and a public service approach to business doing.
This year, the African Court will also attempt to improve on its visibility as it appears that as much as the Court might have made significant achievements so far, its work and contribution remain unknown to many Africans, including those in leadership positions across the continent.
Your Excellencies, Honourable colleagues, and Distinguished guests,
The work of the African Court during this year will inevitably revolve around taking stock of fifteen years of operation while seeking answers to an existential question. That question is: What Africa do we want? Member States of the African Union unequivocally tell African and the world that we want an Africa of justice, human rights, good governance and the rule of law.
My take on this as leadership of the African Court is inspired by what States have pledged to. If African States believe that human rights are key in the pursuit of Africa’s development then strengthening an institution such as the African Court should be paramount in achieving the same aim. I would like at this juncture to reiterate the Court’s utmost appreciation of the commitments widely expressed among Member States to not only recognise the importance of the work so far done by the Court but also of the need to discuss ways of improving the operation of the Court.
Allow me to also recognise the continued commitment of the authorities of the United Republic of Tanzania in hosting the Court which only epitomizes Tanzania’s long-standing contribution to regional integration in Africa and the very African spirit of Ubuntu.
I would like to further extend appreciations to our sister institutions in Africa, I name the ECOWAS Court of Justice, the East African Court of Justice, the UEMOA Court; and on a closer institutional note, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child for their contribution to the new venture of synergy in consolidating human rights justice in the continent.
I call for unfettered judicial and jurisprudential dialogue involving sister institutions in Europe, the Americas and other international tribunals with whom the Court seeks to develop greater cooperation in the course of this year. I should finally extend appreciation to the very able and devoted staff of the Registry of the Court for their relentless efforts in supporting the daily operations of the Institution.
Your Excellencies, Honourable colleagues, and Distinguished guests,
As this marks our first experience of opening of the judicial year under a public format, I would like to say “see you next year” to take stock of what would have been achieved by the African Court in the course of this year. This is also a call for support from all sections of human rights promoters and defenders of human rights justice whether governmental or non-governmental.
Our common desire of the Africa We Want can only translate into reality if we believe in justice, pursue justice and genuinely support and invest in justice. It is on this call that I reiterate deep appreciation to all of you and declare open the 2022 Judicial Year of the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights, so justice can prevail as in justice for the most unprivileged, and the marginalised; as in justice for regional integration; justice without fear or favour; and justice for all.
Thank you for kind attention
Imani D Aboud