DEMOCRATIC PARTY v. THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY & 4 OTHERS

Case Number APPEAL NO. 1 OF 2014
Summary

The Appellant averred that the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Respondents were all signatories to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and the Protocol and yet they had failed, refused or delayed to make declarations to accept the competence of the African Court on Human and Peoples rights as required by Articles 5(3) and 34(6) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples Rights. Their failure to do so meant that individuals and non-governmental organisations could not institute cases directly before the African Court and this constituted an infringement of Articles 6(d) and 7(2) of the Treaty.
RespondentTHE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY & 4 OTHERS
ComplainantDEMOCRATIC PARTY
Date filed
CountriesBurundi , East African Community , Kenya , Rwanda , Uganda
KeywordAfrican Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights , Jurisdiction , The Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties
Treaty ArticleAfrican Charter on Human and Peoples Rights , Article 126 , Article 130 , Article 23 , Article 27 , Article 29 , Article 30 , Article 34 , Article 5 , Article 6 , Article 7 , Article 8 , Articles of EAC Treaty , Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (Article 31)

First Instance Judgment

Verdict
PDF document
Date delivered
Quorum

Appeal Judgment

Verdict
  1. Articles 6 (d) and 7(2) of the Treaty empower the Court to apply the provisions of the African Charter, the Vienna Convention, as well as any other relevant international instrument to ensure the Partner States’ observe provisions of the Treaty. Therefore, the Court has the jurisdiction to interpret the Charter in the context of the Treaty.
  2. The wording in Article 6(d) “...in accordance with the provisions of the Protocol of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights”, creates an obligation on the EAC Partner States to act in good faith and in accordance with the provisions of the Charter. Failure to do so constitutes an infringement of the Treaty.
  3. The wording of the Article 34(6) of the Protocol allows an elastic margin of discretion within which State Parties may deposit their declarations. It does not provide for any constraining time frame beyond which a State Party which has not yet deposited its declaration can be said to have violated the Protocol. Thus, there is no violation of the Charter, or of the Protocol.
  4. The order of the First Instance Division that this Court had no jurisdiction to ensure adherence to the provisions of the African Charter and its Protocol was therefore set aside.
PDF documentDownload the decision as PDF
Date deliveredJuly 28, 2015
Quorum