The role of human rights treaties in constitutionnal adjudication in Benin

Abstract

This mini-dissertation assesses the role international human rights treaties and the jurisprudence of regional courts and UN human rights treaty bodies have played or can play in constitutional court’s jurisprudence concerning the improvement of judicial protection of human rights in Benin. After assessing the approaches of the Benin Constitutional Court in applying human rights treaties and the potential of these treaties to improve human rights adjudication before it, the research postulates that in the current context of increasing globalization, international human rights law is becoming a part of international cooperation and collaboration. At the global level, the use of UN treaties in constitutional adjudication is an essential step towards judicial globalization in human rights adjudication whilst at the regional level, the use of African Union treaties in constitutional adjudication is a strong signal of African “judicial” integration and therefore of pan-Africanism.