Participants in the 6th African Union Judicial Dialogue, held November 20-22 in Algiers (Algeria), unanimously pointed to the need to set up an African judicial network and a mechanism for monitoring the decisions of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

They further called on the African Union to institutionalise this network within its structures and provide the necessary resources to its member States, including Tunisia, so as to implement this project.

Attending this event as a Tunisian Judge at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights Rafaa Ben Achour deplored the laxity with which decisions of the African Court are enforced. “Over 70% of this court’s decisions are not enforced,” he indicated, calling for setting up follow-up mechanisms.

There is no longer any need to prove the role of the judiciary in protecting human rights in Africa, he considered.

This statement was corroborated by the participants, who recommended that a more effective mechanism be set up to monitor and oversee
the implementation of decisions.

They called on the Member States, in turn, to set up national mechanisms to monitor the implementation of the Court’s decisions.

They deemed it necessary in this regard, to set up an African judicial network to coordinate actions between African jurisdictions, particularly in terms of training, and to activate as quickly as possible the instruments for the protection of migrants, displaced persons and refugees.

“African judges should be sensitised not only to the importance of human rights issues, but also to the need for harmony between the domestic case law of the African Court and international conventions,” they considered.

Organised by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the 6th African Union Judicial Dialogue brings together judges from national and regional jurisdictions, representatives of national judicial systems, as well as legal experts and practitioners.

Taking as theme: ‘Promoting Human Rights in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities of Transposin
g Regional and International Human Rights Jurisprudence into National Jurisdictions,’ the African Dialogue is a biennial meeting intended to improve networking between judicial authorities, information sharing and the good administration of justice on the Continent.

Source: EN – Agence Tunis Afrique Presse