A critical review of the jurisprudence of the African Commission on the right to development

Abstract

This article critically examines the jurisprudence of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Commission) on the right to development (RTD). Notwithstanding the controversy over the RTD, it is binding in the African human rights system and has been the focus of a number of cases that have come before the African Commission. After briefly examining the historical and theoretical framework of the RTD, the article focuses on the meaning of the right and its duty bearers at the national and international levels. After analysing several cases decided by the African Commission, the article concludes that the RTD is an important composite right that can provide scope, at both an individual and a collective level, for marginalized groups in society to assert their human rights.