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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria in collaboration with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Commission) and the Faculty of Law, University of The Gambia invites abstracts for a conference celebrating the African Year of Human Rights with particular focus on women.

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The Conference will be held as part of the 25th African Human Rights Moot Court Competition co-organised by the three institutions in Pretoria, South Africa from 3 to 8 October 2016.

The year 2016 marks:

  • 30 years since the entry into force of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter);
  • 10 years since the African Court became operational;
  • 30 years of the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria.

The one-day conference will provide a forum for academics from the participating universities, as well as local and international scholars and practitioners, to undertake a retrospective and prospective examination of the international instruments of the African Human Rights System.

Themes of the Conference

We invite abstracts on the following themes:

  • 30 years of the African Charter – analysis of individual findings, jurisprudential trends in the case-law of the African Commission
  • 25+ years of the African Children’s Charter – analysis of individual findings, jurisprudentialtrends in the case-law of the African Children’s Rights Committee
  • Women’s rights in Africa – reflections on the negotiating between culture and women’s rights in Africa, with reference to the African Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol)
  • 10 years of the African Youth Charter – exploration of the achievements in 10 years since adoption of this Charter; the reason for its limited impact; its potential
  • Conflict in Africa – analysis of the role of African Commission, Committee, Court and other AU organs and bodies in addressing situations of conflict in Africa
  • Fragmentation or co-operative co-existence – The relationship between AU human rights bodies, political bodies and sub-regional bodies with a human rights mandate
  • The domestic impact of the African Charter, Maputo Protocol with a focus on either a specific country or countries (for example, providing an overview of domestic impact in the country, or analyzing the impact of a particular finding or Concluding Observation) or on a particular theme (such as ‘the impact of the domestic violence provision in the Maputo Protocol in selected countries’). Please take note of and build on work already done in this regard, in particular the publications: The impact of the African Charter and Women’s Protocol in selected African states (Pretoria University Law Press, 2012) and The impact of the African Charter and Maputo Protocol (PULP,2016) available at: http://www.pulp.up.ac.za/cat_2016_06.html & http://www.chr.up.ac.za/index.php/research/impact-of-the-charter-protocol.html

Process - Potential Presenters

  • Those interested in presenting a paper must submit an abstract containing the proposed title and a brief summary of the argument / contribution of the paper (800 words maximum).
  • The abstract should also contain the author’s name, institutional affiliation and email address.
  • Abstracts should be sent to mkillander@gmail.com before 8 August 2016.
  • Authors of abstracts selected for presentation will be informed by 13 August 2016.
  • A full paper up to a maximum of 10,000 words must be submitted by 8 September 2016 if visa application required and otherwise by 30 September 2016.
  • Papers will be published in advance as drafts on the website of the Moot Competition.
  • Inclusion in the conference programme is conditional on the submission of the actual paper on or before the deadline.
  • Selected papers may be considered for publication.
  • Style guidelines for papers: http://www.ahrlj.up.ac.za/submissions.

Financing

Funds are available for travel expenses of selected participants. Please indicate need for support on abstract. As the decision on financial support will only be taken in September, Faculty Representatives (academics) who submit abstracts – and who will, in any event, be attending the Moot Competition in Pretoria – are encouraged to seek funding from their home universities.

Contact

For information on the activities of the Centre for Human Rights, please visit www.chr.up.ac.za