The African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples' Rights in Context

Abstract

This chapter outlines and analyses the general jurisdiction for the general affairs section of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights (ACJHR) as set out in the Malabo Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights (Malabo Protocol). The chapter focuses in particular on the clause referencing ‘Any question of international law’ to examine whether that clause should be read expansively or restrictively in light of the Malabo Protocol. This is because the general jurisdiction conferred on the General Affairs Section of the Court encompasses international law matters that are not excluded by either the Human and Peoples’ Rights or the International Criminal Law sections of the Court. The chapter begins by explaining the provision’s immediate origins in the two preceding protocols going back to reforming the African Court of Justice. The next two sections examine first the Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights and second the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights. The discussion section draws together the insights gleaned earlier to make the preliminary conclusion that the ‘any question of international law’ clause has to be read in a uniquely restrictive sense in the African context.