Doctor Legum - LLD

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Browsing by Subject "Africa"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    The African court on human and peoples’ rights: a test of African notions of human rights and justice
    (University of the Western Cape, 2019) Bello, Ayodeji Aliu; Mujuzi, Jamil Ddamulira; Durojaye, Ebenezer
    The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Right (the Court) is the most recent of the three regional Human Rights Bodies. Envisioned by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right, its structures was not planned until the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) promulgated a protocol for its creation in 1998. The Court complements the protective mandate of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (‘The Commission’) and the Court has the competence to take final and binding decisions on human rights violations. Unlike its European and inter-American versions where their courts are integral parts of the cardinal instrument of the system ab initio, the establishment of the African Court was merely an afterthought. At the initial, protection of rights rested solely with the Commission upon African justice system which emphasises reconciliation as it is non-confrontational method of settlements of. The Commission is a quasi-judicial body modelled after the United Nations Human Right Committee without binding powers and with only limited functions covering examination of State reports, communications alleging violations and interpreting the Charter at the request of a State, the OAU or any organisation recognised by the OAU. The thesis answers the question whether the adoption of the African Court means that the African model of enforcing human rights has failed or whether having the Court constitute a concession to the triumph of the western model of law enforcement. The imperative of the 30th Ordinary Session of the OAU in 1994 where the creation of an African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights was viewed as the best way of protecting human rights across the region would be treated. The relevance of such an examination is highlighted by the fact that the African Charter did not make any provision for the establishment of a Court to enforce the rights guaranteed thereunder. If we are to assume that justice by reconciliation has failed and should be replaced by or complimented with justice by adjudication as the primary means of conflict resolution, what guarantees are there that the latter form of justice will not also fail? This thesis therefore will critically evaluate the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and assessed its potential impact on the African human rights system. It will also probe the power of the Court and see whether a clear and mutually reinforcing division of labour between it and the African Commission can be developed to promote and protect human rights on the continent. This research brings to focus an area that requires attention if the African human rights regime is to be effective. It put to test the criticism against the African Charter and the Protocol to the African Charter on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and also identified the present existing flaws in the African regional system. Furthermore, it ascertained whether or not, given the availability of other options, a regional Court is, in fact, the ideal mechanism for the protection of human rights in Africa.
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    Deploying transitional justice mechanisms as anti-corruption tools in Africa
    (University of the Western Cape, 2020) Duri, Jorum; Koen, Raymond
    This thesis advocates the expansion of the field of transitional justice to address corruption in African states emerging from conflict or authoritarianism. There is a close connection between corruption and conflict or repressive regimes in Africa. A good example is the Arab Spring of 2011, where citizens of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya protested against endemic corruption, leading to removal of despotic leaders from power. Dictators or conflicts tend to leave African states in situations where their coffers have been emptied corruptly and their citizens subjected to serious physical violence. What is more, corrupt and oppressive leaders use their ill-gotten assets to escape liability for their crimes. The evident link between the two forms of abuse makes it desirable to address them simultaneously when the dictatorship or conflict ends. Many African countries have deployed transitional justice mechanisms, such as criminal prosecutions, truth commissions, institutional reforms and reparations to address violations of civil and political rights. However, they have neglected corruption and other violations of social and economic rights, notwithstanding their crucial role in the violent past. Many countries still are haunted by the unresolved legacies of corruption and other socio-economic injustices. Recently, scholars and practitioners in the fields of transitional justice and anti-corruption have started to call for corruption and other socio-economic issues to be accommodated within transitional justice programmes. Problems encountered with the expansion of transitional justice mechanisms have not been worked out yet at the level of theory, policy and practice. This thesis subscribes to transformative justice theory as the most viable perspective from which to tackle corruption in transitional societies in Africa. Transformative justice theory is gaining increasing attention in the field of transitional justice, and it has been incorporated in the recent African Union Transitional Justice Policy. It champions locally driven mechanisms which reflect the needs of the victims and local communities, and which pursue socio-economic justice and transformation. The thesis argues that the current transitional justice mechanisms have the potential to become transformative and it will seek to answer how best each of these mechanisms may be implemented to address corruption. It is hoped that this thesis will assist in answering critical questions regarding the proximate relationship between corruption and violence, and in offering guidelines towards the total integration of an anti-corruption agenda into the field of transitional justice in Africa.
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    The domestication of international law standards on the rights of the child with specific reference to juvenile justice in the African context
    (University of the Western Cape, 2005) Odongo, Godfrey Odhiambo; Sloth-Nielsen, Julia; Faculty of Law
    The thesis focused on how the advent of children's rights, in particular the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), has impacted on the subject of juvenile justice and embarked on a practical examination of law reform in this regard in an African context. The focus was placed on a number of African countries that have embarked on or completed child law reform in the aftermath of ratification of the CRC. The case studies in this thesis were Ghana (1998-2003), Kenya (1993-2001), Namibia (1994 to date), Lesotho (2003 to date), South Africa (1997 to date) and Uganda (1992-1996).
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    Legal responses to the right to nationality and prevention of statelessness among children in Africa
    (University of the Western Cape, 2022) Assefa, Ayalew Getachew; Mezmur, Benyam Dawit
    The challenge of statelessness among children is a persistent problem that requires a wide range of measures. Already constituting a societal group in a vulnerable situation, children born into situations of statelessness often find it difficult to access essential services they are entitled to and to meet their basic developmental needs. Studies reveal that statelessness affects several million worldwide, among whom the most vulnerable are children, representing 60 per cent of the global stateless population. Although international and regional laws protect every person’s right to a nationality, statelessness among children persists as a human rights challenge globally as well as in Africa.
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    The world trade organisation (wto) and the organisation of petroleum exporting countries (opec) mandates: regulating production quotas, subsidies, and corruption in oil producing countries-an African perspective
    (2014) Kyepa, Timothy; Lenaghan, Patricia; Wandrag, Riekie
    African countries are faced with the daunting task of providing a comprehensive regulatory framework for their natural resources. This is at both the international and domestic level. The statement is particularly true for emerging African oil producing countries. Related to the above, it can be argued that production quotas, subsidies, and corruption continue to hinder the full liberalisation of the oil sector globally, and in Africa. Also, these three areas are the genesis of some of the prominent issues in the discussions of trade in energy goods. Although Africa is substantially endowed with natural resources like crude oil, it remains at the bottom of the development pecking order; accordingly, it has to get centrally involved in the debate on the regulation of international trade in oil to encourage development and to benefit from the resource. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are the most relevant organisations in the collective regulation of production quotas, oil consumption subsidies and the control of corruption in the oil sector. Both organisations, directly for the former, and indirectly for the latter, deal with trade between nations. OPEC‘s mandate is established in the OPEC Statute, while the mandate of the WTO is found in various multilateral and plurilateral agreements. However, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1994) (GATT), the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM), and the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) are the most relevant. The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is only discussed where relevant. This is because the treaty is based on the WTO framework. Also, several provisions in the WTO agreements are not fully discussed in the ECT. OPEC which deals with regulation of oil production and to some extent oil prices in member countries has an effect on trade of the commodity. The role of the WTO however, is more direct as it regulates international trade of various vi goods and services. Thus this thesis investigates how the above legal frameworks regulate production quotas, subsidies, and corruption in the oil sector. The results of the foregoing investigation are then applied to African countries, such as, Nigeria, Angola (members of both the WTO and OPEC) and Ghana, an emerging African oil producing country, to assess the impact of these international rules on the countries‘ legal regimes. Ghana has recently developed its crude oil sector. The success of the nascent oil sector of this country may depend on the conception or improvement of a comprehensive legal framework, to regulate international trade in oil. It is apparent that without an effective legal framework to regulate international trade in oil, the discovery of oil in Ghana, may not make any long term positive impact on the current economic conditions. Ghana is a member of the WTO; however, it is yet to join OPEC, despite growing debate on its membership in the organisation.