African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
ARTICLE 44: COMMUNICATIONS1. The Committee may receive communication, from any person, group or nongovernmental organization recognized by the Organization of African Unity, by a Member State, or the United Nations relating to any matter covered by this Charter.
ACERWC Revised Guidelines for the Consideration of Communications - 2014
2) Determination of Admissibilityi. For the purpose of determining the admissibility of a Communication, the Committee shall, without prejudice to anonymity, transmit a copy of the Communication to the respondent State Party.
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
ARTICLE 44: COMMUNICATIONS1. The Committee may receive communication, from any person, group or nongovernmental organization recognized by the Organization of African Unity, by a Member State, or the United Nations relating to any matter covered by this Charter.2. Every communication to the Committee shall contain the name and address of the author and shall be treated in confidence.
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
ACERWC Revised Guidelines for the Consideration of Communications - 2014
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
ARTICLE 44: COMMUNICATIONS1. The Committee may receive communication, from any person, group or nongovernmental organization recognized by the Organization of African Unity, by a Member State, or the United Nations relating to any matter covered by this Charter.2. Every communication to the Committee shall contain the name and address of the author and shall be treated in confidence.
ACERWC Revised Guidelines for the Consideration of Communications - 2014
2) Requirements of Formi) No Communication shall be considered by the Committee if:a. it is anonymous;b. it is not written in one of the official languages of the Committee;c. it concerns a State non-signatory to the Charter d. it is not duly signed by the complainant or her/his representativesii) Notwithstanding, the Committee may admit a Communication from State non-signatory to the Charter in the overall best interests of the child. In so doing the Committee shall collaborate with other related Agencies implementing Conventions and Charters to which the non-signatory State is a Party.
ACERWC Revised Guidelines for the Consideration of Communications - 2014
ACERWC Revised Guidelines for the Consideration of Communications - 2014
SECTION IX: PROCEDURE ON ADMISSIBILITY1) Conditions of admissibility In order to take declare a Communication admissible, the Committee shall ensure that:a) The Communication is compatible with the provisions of the Constitutive Act of the African Union and the African Children’s Charter;
Constitutive Act of the African Union
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
ARTICLE 44: COMMUNICATIONS1. The Committee may receive communication, from any person, group or nongovernmental organization recognized by the Organization of African Unity, by a Member State, or the United Nations relating to any matter covered by this Charter.2. Every communication to the Committee shall contain the name and address of the author and shall be treated in confidence.
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
Constitutive Act of the African Union
African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Banjul Charter)
African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Banjul Charter)
ACERWC Revised Guidelines for the Consideration of Communications - 2014
SECTION IX: PROCEDURE ON ADMISSIBILITY1) Conditions of admissibility In order to take declare a Communication admissible, the Committee shall ensure that:a) The Communication is compatible with the provisions of the Constitutive Act of the African Union and the African Children’s Charter;
ACERWC Revised Guidelines for the Consideration of Communications - 2014
f) The Communication does not contain any disparaging or insulting language
ACERWC Revised Guidelines for the Consideration of Communications - 2014
b) The Communication is not exclusively based on information circulated by the media or is manifestly groundless;
ACERWC Revised Guidelines for the Consideration of Communications - 2014
c) The Communication does not raise matters pending settlement or previously settled by another international body or procedure in accordance with any legal instruments of the Africa Union and principles of the United Nations Charter;
Charter of the United Nations
1/88 Frederick Korvah v Liberia
65/92 Ligue Camerounaise des Droits de l'Homme v Cameroon
ACERWC Revised Guidelines for the Consideration of Communications - 2014
c) The Communication does not raise matters pending settlement or previously settled by another international body or procedure in accordance with any legal instruments of the Africa Union and principles of the United Nations Charter;
ACERWC Revised Guidelines for the Consideration of Communications - 2014
d) The Communication is submitted after having exhausted available and accessible local remedies, unless it is obvious that this procedure is unduly prolonged or ineffective;
299/05 Anuak Justice Council v Ethiopia
50. A local remedy has been defined as "any domestic legal action that may lead to the resolution of thecomplaint at the local or national level." 3 The Rules of Procedure of the African Commission provide that"[t]he Commission shall determine questions of admissibility pursuant to Article 56 of the Charter" 4Generally, the rules require applicants to set out in their applications the steps taken to exhaust domesticremedies. They must provide some prima facie evidence of an attempt to exhaust local remedies.5According to the African Commission's guidelines on the submission of communications, applicants areexpected to indicate, for instance, the courts where they sought domestic remedies. Applicants mustindicate that they have had recourse to all domestic remedies to no avail and must supply evidence to thateffect. If they were unable to use such remedies, they must explain why. They could do so by submittingevidence derived from analogous situations or testifying to a state policy of denying such recourse.
25/89 Free Legal Assistance Group and Others v Zaire
25/89 Free Legal Assistance Group and Others v Zaire
36. Article 56 of the African Charter requires that complainants exhaust local remedies before the Commission can take up a case, unless these remedies are as a practical matter unavailable or unduly prolonged. The requirement of exhaustion of localremedies is founded on the principle that a government should have notice of a human rights violation in order to have the opportunity to remedy such violations before being called before an international body. In this case, the government has had ample notice of the violation.
71/92 : Rencontre Africaine pour la Défence des Droits de l'Homme (RADDHO) v Zambia
299/05 Anuak Justice Council v Ethiopia
50. A local remedy has been defined as "any domestic legal action that may lead to the resolution of thecomplaint at the local or national level." 3 The Rules of Procedure of the African Commission provide that"[t]he Commission shall determine questions of admissibility pursuant to Article 56 of the Charter" 4Generally, the rules require applicants to set out in their applications the steps taken to exhaust domesticremedies. They must provide some prima facie evidence of an attempt to exhaust local remedies.5According to the African Commission's guidelines on the submission of communications, applicants areexpected to indicate, for instance, the courts where they sought domestic remedies. Applicants mustindicate that they have had recourse to all domestic remedies to no avail and must supply evidence to thateffect. If they were unable to use such remedies, they must explain why. They could do so by submittingevidence derived from analogous situations or testifying to a state policy of denying such recourse.
002/2009 IHRDA (on behalf of Children of Nubian Descent) v. Kenya
26.This as a backdrop, a local remedy has been defined as "any domestic legal action that may lead to the resolution of the complaint at the local or national level."2Oneof the main purposesof exhaustion of local remedies, which is also linked to the notion of state sovereignty, is to allow the Respondent State be the first port of call to address alleged violations at the domestic level. In the words of the African Commission, exhaustion of local remedies is intended “to give domestic courts an opportunity to decide upon cases before they are brought to an international forum, thus avoiding contradictory judgments of law at national and international levels”.3Furthermore, the primacy and greater immediacy of the domestic level is reinforced by the fact that local remedies are “normally quicker, cheaper, and more effective”4and allow for better fact finding of alleged violations too. The African Committee understands and unreservedly supportstheserolesthat the rule on the exhaustion of local remedies is supposed to play.
25/89 Free Legal Assistance Group and Others v Zaire
36. Article 56 of the African Charter requires that complainants exhaust local remedies before the Commission can take up a case, unless these remedies are as a practical matter unavailable or unduly prolonged. The requirement of exhaustion of localremedies is founded on the principle that a government should have notice of a human rights violation in order to have the opportunity to remedy such violations before being called before an international body. In this case, the government has had ample notice of the violation.
71/92 : Rencontre Africaine pour la Défence des Droits de l'Homme (RADDHO) v Zambia
10. The rule requiring the exhaustion of local remedies as a condition of the presentation of an international claim is founded upon, amongst other principles, the contention that the respondent state must first have an opportunity to redress by its own means within the framework of its own domestic legal system, the wrong alleged to have been done to the individual.
ACERWC Revised Guidelines for the Consideration of Communications - 2014
d) The Communication is submitted after having exhausted available and accessible local remedies, unless it is obvious that this procedure is unduly prolonged or ineffective;
299/05 Anuak Justice Council v Ethiopia
299/05 Anuak Justice Council v Ethiopia
58. The Complainant's submissions also demonstrate that it is apprehensive about the success of localremedies either because of fear for the safety of lawyers, the lack of independence of the judiciary or themeagre resources available to the judiciary. Apart from casting aspersions on the effectiveness of localremedies, the Complainant has not provided concrete evidence or demonstrated sufficiently that theseapprehensions are founded and may constituted [sic] a barrier to it attempting local remedies. In the view ofthis Commission, the Complainant is simply casting doubts about the effectiveness of the domesticremedies. This Commission is of the view that it is incumbent on every complainant to take all necessarysteps to exhaust, or at least attempt the exhaustion of, local remedies. It is not enough for the complainantto cast aspersion on the ability of the domestic remedies of the State due to isolated or past incidences. Inthis regard, the African Commission would like to refer to the decision of the [UN] Human Rights Committeein A v. Australia16 in which the Committee held that "mere doubts about the effectiveness of local remedies... did not absolve the author from pursuing such remedies".17 The African Commission can therefore not7 declare the communication admissible based on this argument. If a remedy has the slightest likelihood tobe effective, the applicant must pursue it. Arguing that local remedies are not likely to be successful,without trying to avail oneself of them, will simply not sway this Commission
299/05 Anuak Justice Council v Ethiopia
58. The Complainant's submissions also demonstrate that it is apprehensive about the success of localremedies either because of fear for the safety of lawyers, the lack of independence of the judiciary or themeagre resources available to the judiciary. Apart from casting aspersions on the effectiveness of localremedies, the Complainant has not provided concrete evidence or demonstrated sufficiently that theseapprehensions are founded and may constituted [sic] a barrier to it attempting local remedies. In the view ofthis Commission, the Complainant is simply casting doubts about the effectiveness of the domesticremedies. This Commission is of the view that it is incumbent on every complainant to take all necessarysteps to exhaust, or at least attempt the exhaustion of, local remedies. It is not enough for the complainantto cast aspersion on the ability of the domestic remedies of the State due to isolated or past incidences. Inthis regard, the African Commission would like to refer to the decision of the [UN] Human Rights Committeein A v. Australia16 in which the Committee held that "mere doubts about the effectiveness of local remedies... did not absolve the author from pursuing such remedies".17 The African Commission can therefore not7 declare the communication admissible based on this argument. If a remedy has the slightest likelihood tobe effective, the applicant must pursue it. Arguing that local remedies are not likely to be successful,without trying to avail oneself of them, will simply not sway this Commission
ACERWC Revised Guidelines for the Consideration of Communications - 2014