Chad ratifies African Court Protocol

By Kulwa Mayombi, East African News Agency, Arusha, Tanzania

The African Rights Court got a boost when Chad, and current chair of the African Union, ratified the Protocol establishing the Arusha-based continental court.

Chad becomes the 30th African Union country to ratify, according to a press statement from the Court.

The other States which have ratified the Protocol are: Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Comoros, Congo, Gabon and The Gambia.

Others are: Ghana; Kenya, Libya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Niger, Uganda, Rwanda,  Arab Saharawi Republic, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo and Tunisia.

“The instrument was signed on 27 January, 2016 by Chad’s President H. E Idriss Deby Itno and immediately deposited at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,”’ read the statement.

The ratification was promised by the Chad’s President when he met the President of the Court Justice Augustino Ramadhani in N’djamena during a sensitization visit to the country on 16-17 December last year.

The President of Chad assumed the AU annual rotating Chairmanship last week in Addis Ababa from President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights is a continental court established by the AU to enhance the protection of human and peoples’ rights in Africa.

In addition to the ratification of the Protocol, States have to make a Declaration required under Article 34(6) of the Protocol to allow individuals and NGOs to bring cases directly before the Court. Without such Declaration, the Court would have no jurisdiction over cases brought by individuals and NGOs.

So far, only seven states have made the Declaration.

These are: Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivore, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Rwanda and Tanzania.

The Protocol was adopted on 9 June 1998 in Burkina Faso and came into force on 25 January 2004.The Court officially started its operations in November 2006.

The AU is made up of 54 Member States.