The effectiveness and propriety of friendly settlements in the African regional system : a comparative analysis with the Inter-American and European regional systems

Abstract

"Despite the apparent universal existence of the friendly settlement procedure it has not been extensively used in the African regional system. Against this background, this study is a comparative analysis of the provisions and application of the friendly settlement procedure in the African, Inter-American and European regional systems. The study further examines in detail the practice and jurisprudence of the three regional systems on a comparative basis. The comparative analysis is relevant for the following reasons. Both Africa and South America share common historical backgrounds in terms of socio-economic development and the nature of human rights violations. Europe has the oldest human rights system and if experience is anything to go by, then there might be lessons to be learnt by the younger counterparts. The establishment of the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights (African Court) to complement the protection mandate of the African Commission on Human and Poeoples' Rights (The African Commission) further justifies the comparative analysis as the other regional systems also have regional human rights courts. ... Chapter 1 is an introduction of the study on the effectiveness and propriety of friendly settlements. The ensuing chapter traces the foundations and sets up the conceptual and theoretical framework of friendly settlements. Having established the existence of the procedure, chapter 3 examines the institutional and legal provisions of friendly settlements in international and regional human rights instruments on a factual level. The detailed and critical analysis of the frienldy settlement procedure is presented in chapter 4. The author makes use of the jurisprudence of the three regional human rights bodies and examines how the procedure has been applied in practice. The practice of the three regional bodies is analysed on a comparative basis to assess the effectiveness of the procedure. The last chapter makes conclusions and gives recommendations regarding the application of the friendly settlement procedure as an alternative method of dispute resolution." -- Introduction.