The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) is the principle regional human rights treaty for the African continent. Adopted in 1981, there is now a significant body of jurisprudence and interpretation by its African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and the recently established African Court. This volume provides a comprehensive article-by-article legal analysis of the provisions of the Charter as it draws upon the documents adopted by the African Commission, including resolutions, case law, and concluding observations. Where relevant, case law adopted by the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, and that of other sub-regional courts and tribunals and domestic courts in Africa, are also incorporated. The book examines not only the substantive rights in the African Charter but also the work of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and provides a full examination of its mandate. A critical analysis of each of the provisions of the ACHPR is led principally by the jurisprudence and documentation of the African Commission and African Court. The text also identifies the overall development of the ACHPR within the broader regional and international human rights legal arena.

The African Charter on Human Rights and Peoples ́ Rights A Legal Analysis, Emmanuel G. Bello This course of Emmanuel G. Bello, legal adviser at the ministry of justice in Harare, is devoted to a legal analysis of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, that was adopted in 1981. According to the author, the Charter on Human Rights reflects the will of member States of the OAU in their efforts to draw a distinction between the Western and Eastern functional ideologies of human rights, by including an African element in its provisions. The introduction gives a detailed historical analysis of the events leading to the final adoption of the Charter. In the second part he examines the protective measures which relate to the structure of the African Commission and its legal mandate. Emmanuel Bello next analyses the procedure for initiating petitions before the Commission and finally he examines the supervisory functions as stipulated by the Charter. Le Plateau continental dans la Convention de 1982 sur le Droit de la Mer, Vicente Marotta Rangel Vicente Marotta Rangel, Professor at the University of São Paulo, presents in this course a systematic and detailed analysis on the continental shelf as it is defined in the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea. After some general remarks on the Convention and on the definition of the continental shelf, the author examines first of all the role of the different factors that influence the regime of the continental shelf (geographical, economical, technological, political and strategic factors), before describing the codification of the applicable rules. Vicente Marotta Rangel also examines the continental shelf's legal regime, and finally investigates the demarcation of the boundaries of the continental shelf between neighbouring States.

This volume is a comprehensive treatment of the African human rights system in terms of the laws, practice, and institutions of the system. The volume discusses, analyzes, and evaluates normative instruments of the African system: the Charter of the Organization of the African Unity (OAU), and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, presenting article-by-article analysis of its provisions and those of the Protocol on the Establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. Similarly the OAU (now the African Union), the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, and the proposed African Court on Human Rights, as institutions of the system, are discussed. The book emphasizes a comparative approach and presents a summary of the UN, the European and the Inter-American human rights mechanisms with regard to their impact on the African system. The role of NGOs in the African system is also considered, as well as the controversial issue of human rights in pre-colonial and colonial Africa.