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Falana v African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (Application No. 019-2015)

African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights · [2015] AfCHPR 41 · 2015 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application filed in personal capacity seeking order compelling African Commission to refer communication to the Court
Decision
Application dismissed for lack of jurisdiction and standing

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court dismissed the application for lack of jurisdiction. The African Commission is not a State Party to the Charter or Protocol, and applications under Article 5(3) can only be brought against States that have deposited declarations under Article 34(6). The relationship between the Court and the Commission is based on complementarity, and the Court cannot compel the Commission to seize it with cases.

Outcome

Application dismissed for lack of jurisdiction and standing

Facts

On 4 May 2015, the Applicant, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, filed a communication with the African Commission concerning systematic human rights violations in Burundi, including attacks on peaceful protesters, journalists and human rights activists following protests over President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term. The Applicant requested the Commission to refer the communication to the Court. When the Commission failed to do so, the Applicant filed this application on 7 September 2015 in his personal capacity and on behalf of alleged victims, seeking an order compelling the Commission to refer the matter to the Court.

Issues

  1. Whether the Court has jurisdiction to hear an application filed against the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, an organ of the African Union rather than a State Party.
  2. Whether the Applicant has standing to bring an application against the Respondent under Article 5(3) and Article 34(6) of the Protocol.
  3. Whether the Court can compel the African Commission to refer a communication to the Court under Rule 29 of the Rules and Article 2 of the Protocol.

Orders

  • Application dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
  • Court finds it has no jurisdiction to hear the case in terms of Article 3(1), 5(3) and 34(6) of the Protocol.
  • Court finds that pursuant to Article 2 of the Protocol and Rule 29 of the Rules, it cannot compel the Respondent to seize it.

Rules and key headnotes

Human Rights — Jurisdiction — African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights — Applications Against Non-State Entities
The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights has jurisdiction only over cases concerning interpretation and application of the Charter and Protocol submitted against State Parties, and lacks jurisdiction to hear applications filed against the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, which is an organ of the African Union and not a State Party.
Human Rights — Standing — Individual Applications — Declaration Requirement
Under Article 5(3) and Article 34(6) of the Protocol, individuals have standing to bring applications to the African Court only where the State against which the application is filed has deposited a declaration accepting the Court's jurisdiction to receive cases from individuals and NGOs.
Human Rights — Institutional Relationship — Complementarity Between Court and Commission
The relationship between the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights is based on complementarity, with both institutions working as independent yet mutually reinforcing partners, and neither institution has the mandate to compel the other to adopt any measures or to seize it with cases.

Full judgment

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

Falana v African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (Application No. 019-2015) [2015] AfCHPR 41 (20 November 2015)
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.