From 13-15 September 2023, the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, in collaboration with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights convened a 3-day conference on implementation and domestic impact of the decisions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) at Southern Sun Hotel, Pretoria, South Africa.
The conference provided a scholarly platform for scholars, the African Commission and members of AU regional bodies including the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the Pan African Parliament and other stakeholders to deliberate on improving the implementation and broader influence of decisions of the African Commission. The conference interrogated the implementation and domestic impact of the decisions of the African Commission at a technical and policy level, including inter-organ collaborations and best practices. The implementation conference featured presentations from academics, judges, representatives of government and relevant stakeholders who have been working on the intersectionality between implementation and the role of national and regional human rights stakeholders.
The conference boasts a comprehensive presentation of 23 papers, shedding light on various subjects such as the role of the African Commission in the implementation of its decisions, viewpoints from African Union's intergovernmental entities, general analysis of implementation and domestic impact of decisions of the African Commission, the role of national actors in implementing the decisions of the African Commission, country and case study analysis of implementation and impact of decisions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. In a unique format, the Conference provided a platform for presenters to receive feedback and comments from Commissioners and members of the Secretariat of the African Commission on presented papers.
Some of the key recommendations from the conference include systematising communications to National Human Rights Institutions in accordance with rule 125(2) of the 2020 rules of procedure of the African Commission, presenting a compliance report in each regular session as per rule 125(7) of the 2020 rules of procedure of the African Commission, establishing an online database detailing implementation status of decisions from communications, incorporating a best practices sharing session on implementation during public sessions of the African Commission, regularising implementation hearings, initiating a detailed study on implementation to establish a baseline for assessing implementation, and conducting missions to evaluate the enactment of concluding observations.
The conference was attended by Commissioners of the African Commission including the Chairperson of the African Commission Hon. Remy Ngoy Lumbu; legal and technical officers from the Secretariat of the Commission including the Acting Executive Secretary of the African Commission, Abiola Idowu-Ojo; representative from the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights Dr Serges Mboumegne; representative of the African Committee of Expert on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, Dr Ayalew Getachew Asseffa; and representative of the Pan African Parliament Clement Mavungu.
The implementation conference is one of the activities of the Centre for Human Rights under its broader project of strengthening national, regional and continental human rights and legal accountability mechanisms which is funded by the Open Society Foundation. The Centre for Human Rights Litigation and Implementation Unit organised the hosting of the Conference.
For more information, please contact:
Tel: +27 (0) 12 420 3151
foluso.adegalu@up.ac.za
Tel: +27 (0) 12 420 3151
zainab.olaitan@up.ac.za