African Court on Human and Peoples Rights

475 judgments
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475 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
December 2025
Court confirms jurisdiction to monitor compliance and orders immediate implementation of unpaid reparations and land, consultation, recognition and reporting measures.
Compliance hearing — Jurisdiction to monitor and order implementation of Court judgments — Non‑compliance with reparations: unpaid pecuniary awards, failure to delimit/demarcate/title ancestral lands and grant collective title, inadequate consultation and recognition of indigenous status, fund and publication orders not complied with — Provisional measures refused.
4 December 2025
Court finds fair-trial violation due to lack of an operational Constitutional Court; orders TND1,000 and immediate operationalisation.
Jurisdiction; exhaustion of local remedies; admissibility partial (divorce and constitutionality challenge admissible; adultery and forensic complaint inadmissible); right to terminate marriage; fair trial—absence of Constitutional Court bars constitutional challenge; reparations—small moral award; order to operationalise Constitutional Court and publish judgment.
4 December 2025
Applicant failed to prove extreme gravity, urgency or irreparable harm; provisional measures to stay costs enforcement dismissed.
Provisional measures — requirements: extreme gravity, urgency and irreparable harm — cumulative standard; Prima facie jurisdiction of the Court; Mootness of requests where domestic assessment complete; Stay of enforcement of costs in public-interest litigation; Burden of proof and evidentiary threshold for provisional measures.
4 December 2025
Court exercised its discretion to reopen pleadings and accept the State’s late response in a death-penalty matter.
Procedure — Reopening pleadings — Rule 46(3) Rules of Court; inherent powers — Rule 90 — discretion to accept late filings; death-penalty proceedings; protection of persons with albinism; recusal of a Judge; withdrawal of Article 34(6) Declaration not affecting pending cases.
2 December 2025
October 2025
Application struck out for failure to pursue proceedings and inability to locate the applicant; restoration permitted on good cause.
Striking out – Rule 65 – failure to pursue proceedings – applicant unlocatable despite legal aid – presidential pardon and release – restoration possible on good cause.
9 October 2025
September 2025
Court reopens pleadings to consider respondent’s post-pleadings submission on newly enacted electoral legislation.
Procedure — Reopening of pleadings — Rule 46(3) and 46(4) — Inherent power under Rule 90 — Admission of post-pleadings submissions concerning subsequent domestic legislation — Act No. 2 of 2024 (Independent National Electoral Commission).
15 September 2025
August 2025
Court reopened pleadings to permit respondent additional evidence and denied applicants' request for an extraordinary-session decision.
Elections — Alleged electoral rights violations — Reopening pleadings — Rule 46(3) discretion — Rule 90 inherent powers — Admission of additional evidence and submissions — Request for extraordinary-session decision denied — Procedural timetable ordered.
5 August 2025
June 2025
Court confirms jurisdiction and admissibility of inter‑State human‑rights claim alleging extraterritorial violations in armed conflict.
Inter‑State proceedings — Jurisdiction under Article 3(1) Protocol — “Cases and disputes” interpreted purposively — Material jurisdiction established where alleged violations fall under the African Charter and other ratified human‑rights treaties — Territorial/extraterritorial jurisdiction in armed conflict where State is involved — Applicability of non‑treaty instruments (UN Charter, AU Constitutive Act, Great Lakes Pact) — Preliminary regional/non‑judicial procedures not a bar to Court jurisdiction — Abuse of process and parallel proceedings — Non‑exclusivity of mass‑media evidence — Flexibility of exhaustion of local remedies in mass/serious violations.
26 June 2025
Default judgment: removal from voters’ register based on a final conviction did not breach protected Charter rights.
Electoral law — Disqualification from voters’ register based on conviction in absentia — Certificate of non-opposition — Presumption of innocence — Equality before the law — Right to participate in government — Admissibility and default judgment.
26 June 2025
Mandatory death penalty and hanging violate the rights to life and human dignity; assessors’ conduct did not breach impartiality.
Human rights – Criminal procedure – Jurisdiction of the African Court to review national criminal proceedings for Charter compliance – Admissibility – Exhaustion and reasonable time – Fair trial: assessors’ impartiality – Equality before the law – Death penalty: mandatory sentencing violates right to life – Hanging as method of execution breaches human dignity and amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment – Reparations and remedies (repeal of mandatory death penalty; removal of hanging; resentencing).
26 June 2025
Application held inadmissible for failure to exhaust local remedies despite Court rendering judgment in default.
African Court jurisdiction — personal, material, temporal and territorial jurisdiction; default judgment under Rule 63(1); admissibility — exhaustion of local remedies and exceptions (unavailability/ineffectiveness/undue delay) under Article 56 and Rule 50(2); costs — each party bears its own costs.
26 June 2025
Failure to deliver two appellate judgments in open court violated the applicant’s fair trial right; property claim dismissed.
Jurisdiction – material jurisdiction to examine alleged Charter violations; Admissibility – exhaustion of local remedies and timeliness; Sovereignty and judicial independence – not a bar to Court oversight; Fair trial – requirement that judgments be delivered in open court; Property – no violation where ownership not established; Reparations – moral damages, publication and reporting ordered.
26 June 2025
Mandatory death penalty and hanging violate rights; respondent violated applicant’s dignity and fair trial rights.
Human rights — Fair trial — Right to effective legal assistance; Right to be tried within reasonable time — Due diligence; Prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment — Police brutality and failure to investigate; Right to life — Mandatory death penalty unconstitutional; Method of execution (hanging) — violates dignity; Reparations — moral damages, legislative reform, rehearing, publication and reporting obligations.
26 June 2025
Request to suspend prosecutorial summons and travel ban dismissed for lack of urgency and proof of irreparable harm.
Provisional measures – Prima facie jurisdiction – Extreme gravity and urgency – Irreparable harm – Delay defeats urgency – Suspension of prosecutorial summons/travel ban.
26 June 2025
Application dismissed as inadmissible for failure to exhaust domestic remedies despite Court's jurisdiction.
Human rights; admissibility; exhaustion of local remedies; default judgment; jurisdiction; provisional measures; criminal proceedings; withdrawal of Article 34(6) Declaration.
26 June 2025
Challenge to alleged discriminatory police promotions dismissed; no violation of equality or right to be heard.
Administrative law; equality before the law; non-discrimination; burden of proof in discrimination claims; judicial review and evolution of jurisprudence; right to have one’s cause heard; procedural service and appeal time-limits; promotions in the civil service.
26 June 2025
Court dismissed provisional measures as they would prejudge the merits despite prima facie jurisdiction.
Provisional measures – prima facie jurisdiction – requirements of extreme gravity, urgency and irreparable harm – provisional measures must not prejudice merits – recognition by States within regional organisations (WAEMU) – limits on Court ordering measures affecting third State conduct.
26 June 2025
Application inadmissible for failure to exhaust available domestic remedies challenging an amnesty law and post‑election killings.
Jurisdiction — Material jurisdiction to assess domestic laws and judicial acts for compliance with the African Charter; Admissibility — requirement to exhaust available and effective local remedies (Constitutional Court) before seising the African Court; Abuse of process and standing — multiple filings and anonymity not per se abusive; Remedies — Court may order repeal of law as reparation where violation established.
26 June 2025
Application challenging ban on official documents declared inadmissible for failure to exhaust local remedies.
Administrative law — Inter-ministerial order banning issuance of official documents to persons wanted by courts — Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies — Availability and effectiveness of Constitutional Court — Allegations of persecution and judicial lack of independence — Timing of domestic decisions.
26 June 2025
Whether the Court has jurisdiction given Article 34(6) declarations and NGO observer status; striking non-jurisdictional respondents.
Jurisdiction – Article 34(6) declaration – Article 5(3) admissibility – NGO observer status before the African Commission – Rule 90 inherent powers – striking out non-jurisdictional respondents – renaming application and service.
17 June 2025
The Court exercised its discretion to reopen pleadings and deemed the respondent's late Response duly filed, allowing a 30-day reply.
Procedure – Reopening of pleadings – Extension of time – Rule 46(3) and inherent powers under Rule 90 – Late Response deemed duly filed – Service and right to reply.
2 June 2025
May 2025
Court reopened pleadings, ordering the State to respond within seven days to alleged disenfranchisement of prisoners and diaspora voters.
Procedure — Reopening pleadings — Court’s discretion under Rule 46(3) and inherent powers (Rule 90) — Interest of justice in electoral rights cases; Electoral rights — Alleged disenfranchisement of prisoners, death‑sentenced persons and diaspora citizens.
20 May 2025
February 2025
Whether the Court should reopen pleadings and admit amici curiae in a complex electoral-rights application.
Procedural law – Reopening pleadings under Rule 46(3) – Inherent power of the Court (Rule 90) – Admission of amici curiae – Electoral rights – 2020 national elections (Tanzania).
28 February 2025
The Court dismissed a public-interest challenge because the AU and AUC are not State Parties to the Protocol, depriving it of jurisdiction.
Jurisdiction — Court’s competence over non-State entities — African Union and African Union Commission not State Parties to the Protocol — application dismissed; Preliminary examination (Rule 49(1)) — applications under Article 5 must be against State Parties; Alleged participatory rights violations (Article 13 ACHPR; Article 25 ICCPR) raised but not adjudicated.
12 February 2025
Court found a violation for failure to provide free legal aid but upheld the conviction; awarded moral damages and ordered legal aid reform.
Human rights—Fair trial—Right to defence and free legal aid—Automatic legal assistance for indigent persons charged with serious offences; assessment of domestic courts’ evidentiary findings—margin of appreciation; reparations—moral damages; legislative reform of Legal Aid Act 2017 required.
5 February 2025
Application alleging fair‑trial violations dismissed as inadmissible for failure to exhaust domestic cassation remedy.
Human rights — Fair trial (Article 7 African Charter; ICCPR Article 15) — Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies — Cassation appeal in Côte d’Ivoire — Lack of counsel/ignorance not excusing non‑exhaustion.
5 February 2025
Application dismissed as inadmissible for failure to exhaust domestic remedies despite Court's jurisdiction.
Jurisdiction – Material, personal, temporal and territorial jurisdiction; Admissibility – Exhaustion of local remedies under Article 56(5) and Rule 50(2)(e); Domestic remedies available under Tunisian Code of Criminal Procedure (Arts. 36, 206); Undue delay not established.
5 February 2025
Whether the respondent failed to protect persons with albinism, resulting in multiple human rights violations.
Human rights of persons with albinism — jurisdiction and admissibility of NGOs’ public interest application — State duty to prevent, investigate and prosecute attacks — discrimination, right to life, dignity, freedom from torture, children’s rights, education and health — reparations and structural remedies.
5 February 2025
Court finds mandatory death penalty and hanging violate right to life and dignity; orders annulment, new sentencing, repeal and damages.
Human rights — Jurisdiction and admissibility — Temporal and material jurisdiction; exhaustion of local remedies; reasonable time — Criminal law — Mandatory death penalty — Violation of right to life; hanging as method of execution — Violation of dignity — Remedies: annulment of mandatory sentence, new sentencing hearing, repeal of mandatory death-penalty provision, abolition of hanging, moral damages, publication and implementation reporting.
5 February 2025
Application declared inadmissible for failure to exhaust domestic remedies; Court rendered judgment by default.
Human rights — Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies — First‑instance in limine litis decision does not necessarily preclude appeal — Default judgment — Rule 63; Jurisdiction — Declaration under Article 34(6) — Withdrawal non‑retroactive.
5 February 2025
Court finds jurisdiction but declares the application inadmissible for failure to exhaust effective domestic remedies.
Jurisdiction — material jurisdiction over alleged human rights violations arising from contractual disputes and acts by State agents; limits of appellate review — Court may assess compliance of national proceedings with Charter standards; Admissibility — exhaustion of local remedies; undue prolongation; availability and effectiveness of Constitutional Court; inadmissibility where no domestic proceedings initiated.
5 February 2025
November 2024
Court reopened pleadings and granted the respondent 30 days to file its Response, exercising discretion under Rules 46(3) and 90.
Procedure – Reopening pleadings; Extension of time – Rule 46(3) and Rule 90 (inherent powers) – Respondent’s restructuring and evidence collection as grounds for extension – Effect of withdrawal of Article 34(6) Declaration on pending cases.
29 November 2024
Applicants failed to prove extreme gravity, urgency and irreparable harm; provisional measures suspending dismissals were dismissed.
Provisional measures — Article 27(2) Protocol — prima facie jurisdiction — requirements of extreme gravity, urgency and irreparable harm — burden of proof and causal link — effect of pending domestic remedies — suspension of disciplinary decisions and presidential decrees.
20 November 2024
Court found no unfair-trial violation but held mandatory death penalty and hanging breached rights to life and dignity.
Criminal procedure – Fair trial and evaluation of evidence – Article 7; Death penalty – Mandatory sentence violates Article 4 (right to life); Method of execution (hanging) breaches Article 5 (dignity); Jurisdiction and admissibility despite State’s later withdrawal of Article 34(6) Declaration.
13 November 2024
Applicant’s multiple fair‑trial complaints dismissed; Court affirms jurisdiction and admissibility and proceeds in default, awarding no reparations.
Human rights — Fair trial (Article 7) — Right to be heard, presumption of innocence, right to challenge evidence, lawfulness of added charges, reasoned judgments — Default proceedings for non‑responding State; jurisdiction and admissibility affirmed.
13 November 2024
Application alleging denial of electoral participation declared inadmissible for failure to exhaust local remedies.
Human rights — Electoral rights — Right to participate in elections — Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies — Procedural correctness before Constitutional Council — Default proceedings against State for failure to respond.
13 November 2024
Applicant’s challenge to patrilineal surname rule rendered moot after law amended to grant equal parental surname choice.
Human rights — Equality between men and women; Family law — Surname transmission; Jurisdiction — Court's material, personal, temporal and territorial competence; Admissibility — exhaustion of local remedies and timeliness; Mootness — legislative amendment rendering claim academic; Relevant instruments: African Charter, Maputo Protocol, ICCPR, CEDAW.
13 November 2024
Default judgment: mandatory death sentence violates right to life and hanging breaches dignity; remedies include damages and legal reform.
Criminal law – recent possession doctrine – fair trial review; Human rights – mandatory death penalty violates right to life (Article 4); Methods of execution – hanging breaches dignity and bans cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (Article 5); Reparations – moral damages and legal reform orders; Default proceedings against State for failure to respond.
13 November 2024
Whether the mandatory death penalty and hanging violate the Charter’s rights to life and dignity.
Jurisdiction – material jurisdiction to review conformity of domestic criminal proceedings with the African Charter; Admissibility – exhaustion of local remedies and reasonable time; Right to life – mandatory death penalty violates Article 4; Right to dignity – hanging as execution method violates Article 5; Fair trial – sufficiency and admissibility of circumstantial and DNA evidence; Remedies – moral damages, vacatur of mandatory sentence, legislative reform and re-sentencing.
13 November 2024
Application declared inadmissible for failure to exhaust domestic remedies; lack of counsel or ignorance not excused.
Human rights — Fair trial rights (right to appeal, right to defence, reasoned judgment) — Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies — Appeal to Cour de cassation required in Côte d’Ivoire — Lack of counsel or ignorance not a valid exception — Jurisdiction — Withdrawal of Article 34(6) Declaration has no retroactive effect.
13 November 2024
Court found no violation of the rights to be heard, equal protection, or dignity; reparations dismissed.
Criminal procedure — Right to have one’s cause heard (Article 7(1)) — Evaluation of witness and corroboration — Single‑witness conviction caution — Burden of proof for human rights violations — Admissibility: exhaustion of local remedies and reasonable time — No established violation of dignity (Article 5) or equal protection (Article 3(2)).
13 November 2024
Applicant’s torture and unfair-trial claims dismissed; Court found mandatory death sentence and hanging violated rights, ordered repeal and reparatory measures.
Human rights — jurisdiction — admissibility — exhaustion of local remedies — timeliness of application by incarcerated applicant — torture allegations — admissibility and probative assessment of confession — mandatory death penalty arbitrary and violates right to life — hanging violates dignity — reparations and legislative remedies.
13 November 2024
Whether executive measures undermined judicial and legislative independence, and if constitution adoption without referendum violated self-determination.
Human rights — Article 20 (self-determination) — Constitution adopted by elected Constituent Assembly — referendum not mandatory; Article 26 — judicial independence — dissolution of High Judicial Council and executive interference; Separation of powers — suspension/dissolution of legislature and assumption of legislative power; Admissibility — exhaustion of domestic remedies unavailable; Reparations — operationalise Constitutional Court, repeal decree-law, reinstate High Judicial Council.
13 November 2024
Court adjourned compliance hearing, granted respondent 90 days to file implementation report, and reserved costs.
Procedure — Adjournment of compliance hearing — Rule 54(6) and Rule 90 — Respondent granted 90 days to file implementation report — Alleged ongoing evictions to be determined at future hearing — Costs reserved.
12 November 2024
October 2024
Whether detention should be suspended as a provisional measure to allow urgent medical care where alleged torture risks irreparable harm.
Human rights — Provisional measures — Prima facie jurisdiction under Protocol — Urgency, extreme gravity and irreparable harm — Suspension of detention to enable urgent specialised medical care — Allegations of torture and right to health.
29 October 2024
Court exercised discretion to reopen pleadings and accept a late response in a death-row fair-trial and equality application.
Procedure — Reopening pleadings — Court’s discretion under Rule 46(3) and inherent powers under Rule 90 — Pleadings filed out of time (Rule 45(1)) — Default and filing in absence (Rule 63) — Provisional measures; death-penalty fair-trial and equality claims.
28 October 2024
Application dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction because the State had not accepted individual access under Article 34(6).
African Court jurisdiction — personal jurisdiction; Article 34(6) Declaration; individual access to Court; preliminary jurisdictional examination (Rule 49(1)); new application vs. previously decided application; Ogiek land eviction claims.
16 October 2024
September 2024
Failure to exhaust domestic remedies rendered application alleging unlawful pre-trial detention inadmissible despite Court's jurisdiction.
Human rights – Pre-trial detention – Alleged violations of liberty, fair trial and freedom of expression – Jurisdiction despite sovereignty objection – Admissibility: failure to exhaust local remedies (pending cassation) – Provisional measures declined – Costs: each party bears own costs.
3 September 2024
Court finds multiple fair‑trial and human‑dignity violations, orders vacatur of mandatory death sentences, legislative reform and moral damages.
Human rights — Fair trial: consular assistance (VCCR Art 36), interpretation (ICC PR Art 14(3)(a)), reasonable time to trial; Torture and inhuman treatment: police brutality, duty to investigate; Death penalty: mandatory sentences violate right to life; death‑row phenomenon and method of execution (hanging) violate dignity; Reparations and legislative and remedial measures.
3 September 2024
Application dismissed as inadmissible for failure to exhaust an available cassation appeal; Court confirmed jurisdiction.
Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies — cassation appeal in Burkina Faso is an available, effective and satisfactory remedy — failure to await outcome renders application inadmissible; Jurisdiction — Article 34(6) declaration — temporal, territorial and material jurisdiction established.
3 September 2024