The African Court on Human and Peoples’ rights and its case law: towards a Supreme Court for Africa?

This post argues that notwithstanding the very small number of decisions issued so far, over the last years, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ rights has progressively become a key actor for the protection of fundamental rights in Africa. Taking advantage of the vague wording of article 27 of the Protocol, and with the general acceptance of all States, the Court has developed its competences and enlarged its mandate to the point of assuming functions similar to those often associated with national Supreme Courts. Therefore, thanks to its broad ratione materiae jurisdiction, which extends to all human rights’ instruments ratified by the respondent state, the Court can potentially end up by guaranteeing a uniform application of the international law of human rights in Africa. It remains to be seen whether and to what extent the Court will keep on enlarging its mandate, in spite of the political sensitiveness of certain cases. The Court’s most recent position in the Zongo case gives good reasons to believe that the Court will go on with its activism.