This book contains a collection of articles by authors from countries in Africa. The topics cover a wide range of issues in the administration of criminal justice and human rights. The different scholarly contributions facilitate a better understanding of certain aspects of the administration of criminal justice in the African sub-region and focus on specific human rights issues as they relate to international and African instruments on the protection of human rights.

The African human rights system has undergone some remarkable developments since the adoption of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, the cornerstone of the African human rights system, in June 1981. The year2011 marked the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the African Charter. It also marked 25 years since the African Charter entered into force on 21 October 1986.This book aims to provide reflections on most of the major human rights issues in the past 30 years of the African human rights system in practice and discussion on the future: the African Charter s impact and contribution to the respect, protection and promotion of human rights in Africa; the contemporary challenges faced by the African Human rights system in responding adequately to the demands of rapidly evolving African societies; and how the African human rights system can be strengthened in the future to ensure that the human rights protected in the African Charter, as developed in the jurisprudence of the African Commission since the Commission was inaugurated in 1987, are realised in practice.The chapters in this volume bring together the work of 20 human rights scholars and practitioners, with expertise in human rights in Africa, under the following general themes: rights and duties in the African Charter; rights of the vulnerable under the African system; implementation mechanisms for human rights in Africa; and towards an effective African regional human rights system.

This book is a practical, experience-based guide for advocates seeking remedies for human rights violations through the use of international institutions. Since 1948, when the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, mechanisms for addressing human rights violations have multiplied to include UN Charter based bodies, treaty-based organizations including the international criminal court, and regional institutions. Each mechanism has its own admissibility requirements: accreditation, timeliness of claims, and exhaustion of remedies. For practitioners, the maze of rules and institutions can be difficult to navigate. This book offers step-by-step approaches for maximizing the institutions’ intended effect–promotion of human rights at all levels.

The book provides useful information about international human rights norms and their relevance to South Africa. Considering the interplay between international and domestic human rights standards, it explains and explores how the South African Constitution protects human rights.

This volume analyses the prospects and challenges of the African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples' Rights in context. The book is for all readers interested in African institutions and contemporary global challenges of peace, security, human rights, and international law. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Providing a comprehensive and analytical overview of human rights in Africa, this book deals particularly with the African regional system of human rights protection. Among the issues it explores are poverty, HIV AIDS, and the tension between international standards and national implementation.

In An African Criminal Court Dominique Mystris offers insight into the potential contribution of a regional criminal court and its place within the international criminal justice discourse, the African Union and the African Peace and Security Architecture.