FACTORS INFLUENCING STATE COMPLIANCE WITH THE FINDINGS OF THE AFRICAN COMMISSION

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Background and problem statement

International law is classically defined as the body of law that regulates relations between states.1 However, since the Second World War, international law has not only been regulating relations between states but has developed to include as one of its “principle aims” the “protection of the human rights of the individual against her or his own government”.2 The adoption of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 could be cited as the beginning of the development of human rights regimes at the global, regional and national levels.3 The development of human rights regimes at the global and regional levels was accompanied by the adoption of various treaties defining the normative frameworks for the promotion and protection of human rights.4 More than fifty years since the  adoption of the Universal Declaration, the process of norm setting is largely complete. The focus should now shift to the implementation of these norms. Enforcement or implementation mechanisms have been established to ensure compliance with treaty norms at the global and regional levels.
This study aims to contribute towards the improved implementation of human rights norms. In particular, the focus is on the strengthening of the African regional human rights system through an analysis of state compliance with the findings of the body mandated with the implementation of treaty norms. The African regional human rights system is based on the normative framework provided by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter). The African Charter was adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on 27 June 1981 and entered into force on 21 October 1986.7 In terms of the African Charter, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) is established to ensure compliance with the Charter’s norms.
In fulfilling its protective mandate, the African Commission has developed a well established practice of receiving and considering individual complaints alleging violations by state parties of the African Charter.9 In finding a state party in violation of the African Charter, the Commission has further developed a practice whereby it not only lists the articles violated by a state party but also recommends remedial measures to be adopted by the state party concerned. The Commission’s jurisprudence and practice in this regard is well documented.
The same cannot be said of the process that follows once the Commission has forwarded its findings to a state party found to have violated the African Charter. Very little is known about the status of state compliance with the African Commission’s recommendations.11 The African Commission has no policy in place to monitor state compliance with its recommendations. Even though the Commission has made some attempts at follow-up in the past, these efforts were few and far apart and have not developed into an established practice.12 Therefore, complaints about a lack of compliance with its findings by Commissioners amount to mere speculation in the absence of accumulated data and any policy on follow-up.13

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background and problem statement
1.2 Aim of the study
1.3 The significance of the study
1.4 Terminology
1.5 Literature review
1.6 Research methodology
1.7 Overview of chapters
1.8 Limitations to the study
CHAPTER 2 A SURVEY AND ANALYSIS OF THE STATUS OF STATE COMPLIANCE WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE AFRICAN COMMISSION IN COMPARISON TO THE STATUS OF AFRICAN STATE COMPLIANCE WITH THE VIEWS OF THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Implementation of the recommendations of the AfricanCommission
2.3 Status of state compliance with the recommendationsof the African Commission
2.4 Implementation by African states of the views of the UN Human Rights Committee
2.5 Status of state compliance with the views of the UN Human Rights Committee
2.6 Table E: Comparative analysis of state compliance with the recommendations of the African Commission and African state compliance with the views of the Human Rights Committee
2.7 Conclusion
CHAPTER 3 FACTORS INFLUENCING STATE COMPLIANCE WITH THE FINDINGS OF THE AFRICAN COMMISSION
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Factors influencing state compliance based on theories
of state compliance with international law
3.3 Factors influencing state compliance with the recommendations of the African Commission
3.4 Conclusion
CHAPTER 4 FOLLOW-UP THROUGH THE AFRICAN COMMISSION’S PROMOTIONAL AND PROTECTIVE MANDATE
4.1 Introduction
4.2 African Charter and Rules of Procedure
4.3 Composition and organisation of the African Commission and the Secretariat of the Commission
4.4 Mandate of the African Commission
4.4 Cooperation between Non-Governmental Organisations and the African Commission
4.5 Cooperation between National Human Rights Institutions and the African Commission
4.6 Relationship between the African Commission and the Organisation of African States and its successor the African Union
4.8 Conclusion
CHAPTER 5 COMPARATIVE OVERVIEW OF FOLLOW-UP MECHANISMS: EXPERIENCES OF THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS, INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Follow-up procedures under the European Conventionon Human Rights before 1 November 1998
5.3 The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Tracing the establishment of a follow-up mechanism to ensure state compliance with the Commission’s recommendations
5.4 United Nations Human Rights Committee: The individual complaints mechanism
5.5 Conclusion
CHAPTER 6 A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE JUDGMENTS OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS, THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE UPCOMING AFRICAN COURT ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS
CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
TABLE OF TREATIES AND LEGISLATION
BIBLIOGRAPHY

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