Wakilii

Burkinabe Movement for Human and Peoples Rights v Burkina Faso and Others

African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights · [2020] AfCHPR 25 · 2020 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Consolidated applications for provisional measures before the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights
Decision
Requests for provisional measures dismissed; ruling does not prejudge jurisdiction, admissibility, or merits

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

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 dismissed the applicants' requests for provisional measures. The Court found it had prima facie jurisdiction and rejected admissibility objections, holding that objections to admissibility are immaterial to provisional measures requests. However, the Court dismissed the request for reinstatement as it would prejudge the merits, and dismissed the request for monetary relief as the applicants failed to prove extreme gravity, urgency, or irreparable harm.

Outcome

Requests for provisional measures dismissed; ruling does not prejudge jurisdiction, admissibility, or merits

Facts

Elie Sandwidi, a Burkinabe magistrate, was recruited as a professional auditor at the Court of Justice of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU-CJ) on 19 December 2017. He was dismissed pursuant to a decision dated 13 December 2017 taking effect on 19 December 2017. Sandwidi challenged the dismissal through various WAEMU bodies including the Joint Advisory Committee, Council of Ministers, Assembly of Heads of State and Government, and the WAEMU Court of Justice, without success. Sandwidi and the Burkinabe Movement for Human and Peoples' Rights filed consolidated applications before the African Court alleging violations of rights to equal protection, dignity, fair hearing, and property under the African Charter. They sought provisional measures for reinstatement or, alternatively, monetary compensation of 200 million CFA francs.

Issues

  1. Whether the Court has prima facie jurisdiction to consider the request for provisional measures.
  2. Whether the application is admissible given that the applicant is not an employee of the respondent state but of an intergovernmental organisation.
  3. Whether the applicant exhausted local remedies before seizing the Court.
  4. Whether the request for reinstatement and repeal of dismissal prejudges the merits of the application.
  5. Whether the conditions for granting provisional measures (extreme gravity, urgency, and risk of irreparable harm) are satisfied.

Orders

  • Objections to the admissibility of the application dismissed.
  • Applicants' requests for provisional measures dismissed.

Rules and key headnotes

Provisional Measures — Prima Facie Jurisdiction — Standard of Review
When seized of a request for provisional measures, the Court need not conclusively establish that it has jurisdiction on the merits of the application, but must simply satisfy itself that it has prima facie jurisdiction.
Jurisdiction — Labour Disputes — Human Rights Violations
The fact that a dispute arises from the termination of a labour contract is not sufficient to exclude the jurisdiction of the Court where the applicant alleges violations of human rights protected by the Charter or any other human rights instrument ratified by the respondent state.
Withdrawal of Declaration — Retroactive Effect — Pending Cases
Withdrawal of the Declaration accepting the Court's jurisdiction to receive applications from individuals and NGOs has no retroactive effect on cases pending at the time of deposit of the instrument of withdrawal, and takes effect only within a period of twelve months.
Provisional Measures — Admissibility Objections — Immateriality
In regard to provisional measures, neither the Charter nor the Protocol provides conditions for admissibility; consideration of provisional measures is subject only to a prior determination of the prima facie jurisdiction of the Court. Objections to admissibility are immaterial as regards a request for provisional measures.
Provisional Measures — Prejudging the Merits — Test
A request for provisional measures prejudges the merits of an application where the subject of the measures sought in the request is similar to the subject of the measures sought in the application, where its purpose is to achieve the same result, or where it touches on an issue which the Court will necessarily have to adjudicate upon when examining the merits of the application.
Provisional Measures — Urgency and Irreparable Harm — Standard of Proof
Urgency means that there is a real and imminent risk that irreparable harm will be caused before the Court renders its final decision. The risk must be real, which excludes a purely hypothetical risk. Irreparable harm requires a reasonable probability of materialisation, having regard to the context and the personal situation of the applicant.
Provisional Measures — Burden of Proof — Material Situation
An applicant seeking provisional measures on grounds of material hardship must prove the reality of the alleged situation with corroborative evidence showing a real and imminent risk of irreparable harm. Mere assertions of debt, inability to live in dignity, or need to support dependants, without evidence, are insufficient where the applicant is employed as a magistrate.

Legislation cited (16)

  • Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 22
  • Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 3(1)
  • Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 5
  • Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 27(2)
  • Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 34(6)
  • Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 6(2)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 3(2)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 5
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 7
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 14
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 56(5)
  • Rules of Court Rule 8(2)
  • Rules of Court Rule 33(1)
  • Rules of Court Rule 51(1)
  • WAEMU Treaty Article 9
  • WAEMU Court of Justice Staff Regulations Article 141

Cases cited (13)

  • Ghati Mwita v United Republic of Tanzania (Application No. 012/2019)
  • Houngue Eric Noudehouenou v Republic of Benin (Application No. 003/2020)
  • Suy Bi Gohore and Others v Republic of Cote d'Ivoire (Application No. 044/2019)
  • Ingabire Victoire Umuhoza v Rwanda
  • Tanganyika Law Society and Others v Tanzania
  • Sebastien Germain Marie Ajavon v Republic of Benin (Application No. 062/2020)
  • Mamatkoulov and Askarov v Turkey
  • Aoulmi v France
  • Paladi v Moldova
  • African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights v Libya
  • Jean de Dieu Ngajigimana v United Republic of Tanzania (Application No. 024/2019)
  • Guillaume Kigbafori Soro and Others v Republic of Cote d'Ivoire (Application No. 012/2020)
  • XYZ v Republic of Benin (Application No. 010/2020)

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

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

Burkinabe Movement for Human and Peoples Rights v Burkina Faso and Others [2020] AfCHPR 25 (25 September 2020)
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.