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The first issue of the 2020 volume of the African Human Rights Law Journal (AHRLJ) is published today (6 August 2020). The publication of this volume of the AHRLJ marks twenty years since the Journal has first appeared.  The African Human Rights Law Journal, which is the only scholarly journal focused on the African regional human rights system, is published by the Pretoria University Law Press (PULP), in association with the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria.  

“I think it is fair to say that the African Human Rights Law Journal has for the last twenty years played an important role in raising awareness and advancing quality scholarship on the African regional human rights system. Sincere thanks and a loud ‘hats off’ go to the Journal’s Publications Manager, Isabeau de Meyer, whose meticulous attention to detail and general care of the Journal knew no bounds, and to Lizette Hermann, at the helm of PULP, on whose boundless energy and professionalism the Journal has for many years relied. A hearty ‘thank you’ also to the associate editors (Magnus Killander, Annelize Nienaber, Solomon Ebobrah, and - most recently - Maria Assim), the international advisory board, all who submitted contributions, authors, reviewers – and indeed, all our readers!’, Frans Viljoen, editor-in-chief, said at the publication of this issue of the Journal.

This issue 

Of the twelve articles in the most recent issue, three deal with various aspects related to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Within the space of six months, three states followed Rwanda in withdrawing their declarations under article 34(6) of the Protocol to the African Charter on the Establishment of an African Court, accepting the competence of individuals and non-governmental organisations enjoying observer status with the African Commission to submit cases directly to the Court. One article in the Journal identifies surface and deep-seated factors that may explain the withdrawal by the four states. Another article analyses the Court’s subject-matter jurisdiction and interpretive competence in relation to international humanitarian law. A third article examines the Court’s rulings, orders and judgments in two cases concerning Libya in the context of the Arab uprisings. 

Three other contributions deal with issues of continental relevance, including the Pan-African Parliament’s capacity to promote and protect human rights, the influence of the Chinese model of internet sovereignty in Africa, and the use of a rights-based approach, based on the right to health, to effectively address non-communicable diseases. The remaining articles are country-specific and deal with aspects of human rights in Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Africa and Ethiopia. 

About the Journal 

It is a leading peer-reviewed journal focused on human rights-related topics of relevance to Africa, Africans and scholars of Africa. The first issue of the AHRLJ appeared in 2001. Since then, the Journal has appeared twice a year, in July and December, without interruption.  The full text of the Journal is made freely available online immediately upon publication: see https://www.ahrlj.up.ac.za/

The Journal’s editorial team consists of Frans Viljoen, Professor of Human Rights Law and Director, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa (editor-in-chief); and the following associate editors: Solomon Ebobrah, Professor and Dean, Faculty of Law, Niger Delta University, Nigeria; Magnus Killander, Professor of Human Rights Law, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria; Annelize Nienaber, Professor and Head: Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria; Usang Maria Assim, Senior Researcher, Children’s Rights Project, Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law, Governance and Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape. The Publication Manager is Isabeau de Meyer. 

The Journal’s international advisory board consists of: Jean Allain; Professor of International Law, Faculty of Law, Monash University, Australia; Fareda Banda; Professor in the Laws of Africa, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; Gina Bekker; Teaching Associate, Monash University, Australia; Victor Dankwa; Professor of Law, University of Ghana; John Dugard; Extraordinary Professor, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria; Christof Heyns; Professor of International Human Rights Law and Director: Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa, University of Pretoria; Edward Kwakwa; Legal Counsel, World Intellectual Property Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland; Sandy Liebenberg; HF Oppenheimer Chair in Human Rights Law, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa; Tiyanjana Maluwa; Professor of Law, Dickinson School of Law, Pennsylvania State University, USA; Joe Oloka-Onyango; Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, Makerere University, Uganda; Kate O'Regan;  Director of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, University of Oxford; Former Justice, Constitutional Court of South Africa; Fatsah Ouguergouz; Former Judge, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights; Michael Reisman; Myres S McDougal Professor of International Law, Yale Law School, USA; Geraldine van Bueren; Professor of International Human Rights Law at Queen Mary, University of London

The African Human Rights Law Journal is found in the following databases:


Upcoming webinar 

A webinar will be held in the near future, to mark this milestone and to highlight the findings in some of the articles appearing in the most recent volume of the Journal.

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