The principle of subsidiarity in jurisdiction of courts of subregional economic organizations in Africa on human rights

Abstract

This article examines whether the framework of judicial discretion or commensurable doctrines of judicial respects found access to jurisdiction in the area of human rights of the three subregional courts created in the context of regional economic communities: Court of the Economic Community of West African States; East African Community Court; and Tribunal of Southern African Development Community. The author also examines the relevance of the rights of depletion of internal means of legal protection as a separate manifestation of subsidiarity in their judicial practice. The author briefly describes the key institutional parameters for each court, the role of procedural subsidiarity in form of depletion of the norm on internal means of legal protection, as well we presence or absence of substantial subsidiarity through formulation of the limits of judicial discretion. The presence of subsidiarity in form of the limits of judicial discretion is an important condition for further work of the courts of subregional economic communities in Africa on protection of human rights, since the presence of “judicial respect” with regards to the decisions of national court and political-legal decisions of the participating countries is a key to recognition and likelihood of execution of rulings of the courts of subregional economic communities on the territory of participating countries of the corresponding communities.