African court to hold fourth judicial dialogue in Uganda
Tanzania Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan (second left) and African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights President Sylvain Ore (third left) launch a book on the Court's 10 year plan at Mount Meru Hotel in Arusha on November 23,2016. The court is to hold its fourth Annual Judicial Dialogue in Uganda next week. PHOTO | LUCAS BARASA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
The judicial dialogue is a biennial event of the African Union aimed at improving networking amongst judicial officers, exchange of information and best practices and the proper administration of justice on the continent.
The fourth African Judicial Dialogue will be held from October 30 to November 1 in Kampala, Uganda.
The dialogue, organised by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in collaboration with the Ugandan government, will bring together more than 300 delegates, including chief justices, presidents of supreme and constitutional courts, as well as representatives of regional and international judicial bodies and other relevant stakeholders, from the 55 AU member States.
The judicial dialogue is a biennial event of the African Union aimed at improving networking amongst judicial officers, exchange of information and best practices and the proper administration of justice on the continent.
The theme of this year’s Dialogue is: Tackling Contemporary Human Rights Issues: The Role of the Judiciary in Africa, and is a build-up to the themes of the other three editions held in 2013, 2015 2017.
“The past three meetings have reaffirmed the importance of the Dialogue as a platform for African national judiciaries to discuss opportunities and continuing challenges relating to their functions,” said the AFCHPR President Justice Sylvain Oré.
He added that the 4th Judicial Dialogue is expected to identify the major human rights issues currently facing Africa and what role the Judiciary could play to deal with such issues, among others.
Uganda National Organising Committee chairperson Esta Nambayo said the overall objective of Uganda hosting the dialogue was to “enhance international judicial cooperation through sharing of Judiciary challenges and best practices among states across Africa and beyond.”
The dialogue will be preceded by the first meeting of the International Human Rights Forum from October 28 to October 29 in Kampala. This meeting which is hosted by the African Court will be attended by the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights under the theme, ‘’Operationalising the International Human Rights Forum and Enhancing Jurisprudential Dialogue.”
The AFCHPR is a continental court established by the African Union member states to ensure the protection of human and peoples’ rights in Africa. The Court started its operations in 2006, and has its permanent seat in Arusha, Tanzania.
The Court was established under the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which was adopted on June 9, 1998 in Burkina Faso, and came into force on January 25, 2004. Uganda ratified the Protocol on February 16 2001.
More than 30 countries have ratified the Protocol and of these, only nine have deposited the Declaration required under Article 34(6) of the Protocol to allow NGOs and individuals to access the Court directly.
The Court is composed of 11 Judges, nationals of Member States of the African Union elected in their individual capacity.
The Judicial Dialogue is a biennial event, institutionalised by the African Union. This is the first time that the event will be hosted outside the Seat of the African Court.
