African regional human rights system

Abstract

This contribution first introduces the main legal instruments relevant to the continental protection of human rights in Africa, then discusses the norms recognised (individual and peoples' rights and duties, etc) and thereafter turns to the regional institutional structures set up to achieve the implementation of the norms. This institutional overview focuses primarily on four important pillars of the African human rights system: the organs of the African Union, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, the yet to be established African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights and the newly established African Peer Review Mechanism