The bill already, adopted by the National Assembly, was tabled during a plenary sitting of the Senate on July 7, 2014.

Senators are bracing up to scrutinize the bill to authorise the President of the Republic to ratify the protocol on the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the establishment of an African Court on Human and People’s Rights adopted on June 10, 1998 at Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Senate President Marcel Niat Njifenji chaired the plenary sitting of the House on July 7, 2014 during which the bill forwarded to him by the President of the National Assembly in compliance with Article 30 of the Constitution was tabled. The bill was immediately forwarded to the Foreign Affairs Committee for scrutiny before its examination and adoption by the entire House.

The court seeks to complement the actions of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights by adopting decisions that are legally-binding on the parties. The decisions may punish human rights violations and ensure compensation for victims. It is expected to merge with the Court of Justice of the African Union to give birth to the African Court of Justice and Human Rights.

The government has opted for the ratification of the said protocol in response to many requests by African institutions involved in the promotion and protection of human rights, pending the protocol establishing the African Court of Justice, which is yet to obtain the number of ratifications required for its entry into force.

The African Court on Human and People’s Rights has its seat in Arusha, Tanzania. It comprises 11 judges, nationals of African Union member States elected in an individual capacity by the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government for a six-year term, renewable once. Only the President of the Court performs his duties on a full-time basis. The pioneer judges of the court were sworn in on July 1, 2006.