The admissibility of cases before the African court on human and people's rights : who should do what?

Abstract

The inauguration of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in 2006 heralded a new phase in trans-national judicial implementation of human rights in Africa, but it also brought new legal challenges with it. An important aspect of the Court’s procedure that is likely to pose a primary challenge for stakeholders is the question of admissibility before the Court which appears to have been complicated by the uncertain relation between theCourt and the AfricanCommission. This article argues that there are gaps in the rules for the determination of admissibility before the Court. More crucially, the emerging admissibility regime undermines the relevance of the admissibility procedure of the African Commission. To ensure consistency between the two organs, more weight should be given to the uncontested admissibility decisions of the African Commission.