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Proliferation of Human Rights Protection Mechanisms on the African Continent - Developments and Implications

Publication at Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Faculty of Law |
2011

Abstract

The inclusion of human rights protection and promotion into the agenda of Regional Economic Communities (REC) in Africa raises several concerns. Th is contribution identifies and analyses some of the most urgent of them, including questions of human rights jurisdiction of REC Courts and implications of acceptance of the African Charter on Human Peoples''Rights as a normative standard to be applied by regional and subregional courts, such as the risk of forum shopping or questions of res iudicata and lis pendens.

Th e contribution concludes that proliferation of human rights control mechanisms on subregional level bears a signifi cant potential to impact the standard of human rights protection in Africa, both in a positiveand negative way. However, due to absence of relevant jurisprudence it remains to be seen, to what extend the risks identifi ed will turn into reality.