The role of Africa's supranational courts in the protection of fundamental rights: contributions and challenges

Venue: Conference Room, Faculty of Law Building, via Verdi 53 Trento

In the course of the last decades, Africa’s legal landscape has witnessed the establishment of a great number of supranational courts, both at continental and sub-regional levels, which have often adjudicated over cases involving allegations of human rights violations. Even though this can be regarded as an expression of growing acceptance of international human rights principles by African States, the co-existence of so many human rights monitoring bodies has however raised some problems, due to a lack of provisions governing the relationship among them.
In light of such a “puzzling” scenario, the Roundtable will investigate the different approaches developed by African supranational courts, in order to assess their legitimacy and effectiveness with regard to the protection of fundamental rights.

10:00 – 10:15  Welcoming Address

• Fulvio Cortese, Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Trento

10:15 – 13:00  Programme 

Chair: Giuseppe Nesi, Professor of International Law, University of Trento

• Decolonising Human Rights: An African Perspective
  Manisuli Ssenyonjo, Professor of International Law and Human Rights, Brunel University London
   
• ​The “Puzzling” African Human Rights System: Who Should Do What?
  Apollin Koagne Zouapet, PhD Candidate in International Law, University of Geneva

Break

• The Role of Africa’s Supranational Courts: Judicial Activism or Resistance?
  Konstantinos D. Magliveras, Professor of Public International Law, University of the Aegean
   
• The Extension to Human Rights Protection of the Competence of International Courts and Tribunals within the African Sub-Regional Economic Communities: Selected Cases
  Giuseppe Pascale, Assistant Professor of International Law, University of Trieste

Concluding Remarks 

Abdulqawi A. Yusuf,  President of the International Court of Justice

Scientific Coordinator

Francesca Mussi, University of Trento

The participation is free but we kindly ask you to fill the online registration form.

Event under the patronage of:

• Gruppo di interesse SIDI sul Diritto Internazionale ed Europeo dei Diritti Umani (DIEDU) 

• Gruppo di interesse SIDI sulle Organizzazioni Internazionali