International Law And Domestic Human Rights Litigation In Africa

"African civil law countries are traditionally described as monist and common law countries as dualist. This book illustrates that the monism-dualism dichotomy is too simplistic, in particular in the field of human rights. Academics and practitioners from across the continent illustrate how domestic courts in Africa have engaged with international human rights law to interpret or fill gaps in national bills of rights. The authors also consider the challenges encountered in increasing the use of international human rights law by African domestic courts."--Back cover.

This title was first published in 2001. This text critically examines the role and relevance of international human rights law in the process of protection, especially in the cases of Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. It argues that international human rights law does have a role to play in the protection and, indeed the enforcement of human rights in these countries and that there is an emerging trend to that effect.

This book provides a comprehensive and analytical overview of human rights law in Africa. It examines the institutions, norms, and processes for human rights realization provided for under the United Nations system, the African Union, and sub-regional economic communitites in Africa, and explores their relationship with the national legal systems of African states. Since the establishment of the African Union in 2001, there has been a proliferation of regional institutions that are relevant to human rights in Africa. These include the Pan African Parliament, the Peace and Security Council, the Economic, Social and Cultural Council and the African Peer Review Mechanism of the New Partnership for Africa's Development. This book discusses the links between these institutions. It further examines the case law stemming from Africa' most important human rights instrument, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, which entered into force on 21 October 1986. This new edition contains a new chapter on the African Children's Rights Committee as well as full coverage of new developments and instruments, such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Convention on Enforced Disappearances, and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. Three cross-cutting themes are explored throughout the book: national implementation and enforcement of international human rights law; legal and other forms of integration; and the role of human rights in the eradication of poverty. The book also provides an introduction to the relevant human rights concepts.

Domestic Violence and International Law argues that certain forms of domestic violence are a violation of international human rights law. The argument is based on the international law principle that, where a state fails to protect a vulnerable group of people from harm, whether perpetrated by the state or private actors, it has breached its obligations to protect against human rights violation. This book provides a comprehensive legal analysis for why a state should be accountable in international law for allowing women to suffer extreme forms of domestic violence and how this can help individual victims. It is irrelevant that the violence is perpetrated by individuals and not state actors such as soldiers or the police. The state's breach of its responsibility is in its failure to act effectively in domestic violence cases; and in its silent endorsement of the violence, it becomes complicit. The book seeks to reformulate academic and political debate on domestic violence and the responsibility of states under international law. It is based on empirical data combined with an honest assessment of whether or not domestic violence is recognised by the international community as a human rights violation. 'Domestic Violence in International Law [...] provides an original, provocative, and much needed legal framework for the coherent development of a norm against domestic violence in international human rights law...Dr. Meyersfeld has developed a thoroughgoing analysis that asks and answers the most difficult questions often neglected by academics, lawyers and activists who dismiss the possibility that systemic violence against women could violate international law...Most fundamentally, this book is memorable for the hope and optimism it expresses about the transformative possibilities of international law. For without compromising such intensely human values as privacy, autonomy and cultural identity, Dr. Meyersfeld moves her reader with an abiding conviction: that international law, fueled with the power of transnational actors, can propel public actors to protect abused and vulnerable people in their most private worlds.' From the Foreword by Harold Koh, The Legal Adviser, United States Department of State (2009-).

International law is a social construct crafted by human endeavour to achieve or at least contribute to the achievement of goals perceived to be valuable or necessary to effective social relations. In effect, international law is no more than a facilitative process and so cannot have answers and conclusions of its own other than what lies within the ambitions of those who define the limits of the process. The essays collected together here reveal how international law facilitates the achievement of the long standing ambition of turning human rights ideals and rhetoric into reality.

The aim of this reference work is to make African human rights law accessible to all those involved in or interested in human rights law on the continent in order to strengthen its impact. Primary documents are introduced and reproduced and presented in a coherent framework. The main institutions - public and private - dealing with human rights in Africa are identified and discussed. Comprehensive overviews of the international human rights legal regimes applicable to Africa, as well as country reports are provided. This book tries to contribute towards documenting, systemising and anchoring the African human rights system. The print edition is available as a set of two volumes (9789004138810).

This treatment of the topic of remedies for human rights violations reviews the jurisprudence of international tribunals on these violations. It also provides a theoretical framework and a practical guide.

South Africa, the power house of the African continent, as well as Germany, Europe’s largest economic power, are faced with an intricate maze of international obligations, whether related to the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the African Union or the European Union (EU), international human rights law, international humanitarian law, or any other sub-regime of international law. The two countries are in a different position when facing the implementation of this maze of obligations. South Africa is a developing economy that faces various capacity challenges which, at times, also impact the manner and extent to which it implements its international treaty obligations. Germany, ont the other hand, benefits from comparatively well-funded institutes of international law and a well-trained academic community, which have contributed to the successful implementation of much of international law. But as the relevant chapters in this volume show, the German case is not without its own complexities. As a result, an exchange of ideas and experiences pertaining to the implementation of international obligations can prove fruitful for both countries. Moreover, such an exchange could also serve as a useful point of departure for other countries in Southern Africa that face similar challenges in relation to implementation. The current book explores suitable techniques of implementation of international law, by comparing South Africa with Germany. After a general overview of the status of international law within Germany and South Africa respectively, it focuses on the implementation of international instruments pertaining to key sub-areas of international law in the two countries. These include the United Nations Charter (peace and security), the international law of the sea, international economic law, international environmental law, international human rights law, international criminal law, regional integration, and the status of international judicial decisions before domestic courts.