African Journal of Legal Studies (Online)

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Enforcing Fundamental Rights in Nigerian Courts - Processes and Challenges

Fundamental rights provisions have continued to feature very prominently in the successive constitutions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The enforcement procedure, however, remains identical to the one provided in 1979, in the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules. The parliament has remained aloof to these obvious realities of the procedural complications. Social, political and economic factors have continued to constitute the greatest hindrances to the citizens' desire to see...

L'afrique Et Le Système de Justice Pénale Internationale

Africa has been ravaged by armed conflicts and/or oppressive regimes for decades. During those conflicts or oppressive regimes, heinous crimes such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed and made millions of victims. Among these, only a handful number saw some justice. This was possible essentially because the international community took a vigorous stance against the impunity of war criminals and genocidaires by creating international judicial mechanisms, suc...

The Emerging Role of the Constitutional Value of Ubuntu for Informal Social Security in South Africa

This paper explores the significance of the African value of ubuntu within the context of social protection. The paper argues that ubuntu as a constitutional value plays a crucial role in supporting the existence of informal social security in South Africa. It concludes by reflecting the overarching potential that the traditional African value has for influencing the social protection and enhancing family solidarity in the South African context.

Armed Conflicts in Africa and Western Complicity: A Disincentive for African Union's Cooperation with the Icc

Intrinsic in the concept of international justice for violations of international humanitarian law is the requirement of cooperation by states and, to a large extent, regional bodies with the International Criminal Court (ICC). Unlike domestic courts, the ICC is not endowed with law enforcement power nor could such power be imputed to it as part of its functions. It is against this background that the on-going crisis of corporation between the ICC and the African Union (AU) following the indi...

Evidence in International Criminal Trials: Lessons and Contributions From the Special Court for Sierra Leone

This article aims to contribute to the discourse on the development of a system of international criminal justice. The paper discusses the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), in particular, certain of its rules of evidence and their role in ensuring just, fair and expeditious trials for breaches of international humanitarian and international human rights law during the Sierra Leone conflict which lasted between 1991 and 2002. In the conclusion, the author considers whether the manner in w...

The Foundations of Rights in the African Charter On the Rights and Welfare of the Child: A Historical and Philosophical Account

This article examines the cultural-based critiques of the international human rights paradigm generally and children's rights in particular, with specific reference to Africa. In this regard, the paper attempts to identify gaps in the analyses of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Towards that end, the paper proceeds in three parts. In the first section, it situates the discussion within the general framework of children's rights at international law. In the next sect...

Violence in Kenya: Any Role for the Icc in the Quest for Accountability?

This article examines the violence that broke out in Kenya after the 2007 presidential elections. After weeks of fighting and the establishment of a coalition government made up of the incumbent president and the leader of the opposition, relative calm returned to the country. However, the government has been slow to implement the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into Post Election Violence (Waki Commission). One key suggestion the Waki Commission made was to call upon the Kenyan ...

Book Review

The Human Rights System, Activist Forces, and International Institutions

The African continent is faced with a number of regional obstacles but Okafor has contributed his well researched work to scholarship by documenting some of the critical issues in the area of international human rights which cannot be found anywhere else. With cited cases and examples of how the clauses of the African Charter of Human and People's Rights have been "invoked" by key players such as the executive, legislature, judiciary and civil society activists, Okafor concluded that even th...