Wakilii

Ababou v Kingdom of Morocco (Application No. 007-2011)

African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights · [2011] AfCHPR 6 · 2011 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights alleging refusal to issue identity documents
Decision
Application struck out for want of jurisdiction

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights has no jurisdiction to hear an application against the Kingdom of Morocco because Morocco is not a member of the African Union and has neither signed nor ratified the Protocol establishing the Court. Article 3(1) of the Protocol limits the Court's jurisdiction to cases concerning States that have ratified relevant human rights instruments. The application was struck out for want of jurisdiction.

Outcome

Application struck out for want of jurisdiction

Facts

The applicant, Youssef Ababou, alleged that the Kingdom of Morocco refused to issue him civil status documents including a national identity card and passport. He claimed to have made requests to the Consulate General and Ambassador of Morocco in Algeria for many years without success. The applicant filed an application with the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights seeking justice. The Court's Registry inquired with the African Union Commission about Morocco's membership status and ratification of the Protocol establishing the Court. The Commission confirmed that Morocco is not a member of the African Union and has neither signed nor ratified the Protocol.

Issues

  1. Whether the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights has jurisdiction to hear an application against a State that is not a member of the African Union and has not ratified the Protocol establishing the Court.

Orders

  • Application struck out for want of jurisdiction.

Rules and key headnotes

Human Rights — Jurisdiction of African Court — Ratification Requirement
The jurisdiction of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights extends only to cases concerning States that have ratified the Protocol establishing the Court and other relevant human rights instruments, and the Court has no jurisdiction over States that are not members of the African Union and have not ratified the Protocol.

Legislation cited (2)

  • Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Establishing the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 3
  • Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Establishing the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 34(6)

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Ababou v Kingdom of Morocco (Application No. 007-2011) [2011] AfCHPR 6 (2 September 2011)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.