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.
