A single African Court of Justice and Human Rights is close by. A final proposal to merge the African Human Rights Court and the African Court of Justice has now been completed. Both courts are in a long process of coming into being. A single African judicial organ is expected to effectuate the resolution of inter-state conflicts and to strengthen human rights protection. However, not even half of the continent has bound itself to it.

The setting up of a African Court which for the moment sits in the facilities of the Rwanda tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania, will be concluded most likely at the end of June during the Summit of African Heads in Egypt.

Concerns
Before the court will be fully operational there are still some major problems to solve. Justice Gerard Niyungeko expressed concerns over delays in the building of a new permanent court in Tengeru, near Arusha. Tanzania, regarded as an African model of justice and democracy, ratified the Protocol in February 2006, which paved the way for her to host the Court that initially started in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Tengeru-located court is expected to take at least one year before it is ready. According to Niyungeko this will lead to difficulties in housing its permanent staff, now on the final stage of their recruitment.

Cooperation
More fundamental is cooperation with the Court. Niyungeko called upon the African Union (AU) member states to ratify the protocol establishing the Court. Due to political unwillingness of some states to comply with the powers of the Court, only 24 member states out of 53 African Union (AU) have ratified the Protocol so far.

Burkina Faso and Mali are the only countries that have fully accepted the Court's competence to deal with cases from individuals and NGOs. One of the first countries to ratify the Protocol is Rwanda, which experienced one of the worst forms of human killings of the modern century in during the 1994 genocide.

Africa's complicated human rights protection system
Africa has a troubled record of human rights protection. The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) only adopted the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights in 1981 based on the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Since then, the protection of human rights rested solely with the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. This weak quasi-judicial body had no binding powers, its functions were limited to examining state reports, considering communications alleging violations, and interpreting the Charter.

The African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights
With the advancements of democracy in several African states in the 1990's a stronger human rights institution was desired. Therefore, in 1998 the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) was established and entered into force in 2004 as a substitute to the Commission.

The Human Rights Court can deal not only with breaches of the African Charter, but also with cases on the basis of any instrument, including international human rights treaties, which have been ratified by the State party in question. A novelty of the ACHPR is that it allows any African NGO that has been recognized by the OAU, to bring a case before it. This is not possible before its European and American equivalents.

The African Court of Justice and Human Rights
In the meantime the establishment of an African Court of Justice (ACJ) of the African Union was underway. It was intended to be the principal judicial organ of the African Union to settle disputes over interpretation of AU treaties. A protocol to set up this Court was adopted in 2003, but it has never entered into force. It is now decided that it will merge with the Human Rights Court to a single African Court of Justice and Human Rights (ACJHR). Underlying this decision was the concern at the growing number of AU institutions, which it could not afford to support.

The new court shall have two chambers, one for general legal matters and one for rulings on the human rights treaties. The first eleven Judges were elected in January 2006. Each judge serves for a six-year term, and can be re-elected once. At present, Justice Gerard Niyungeko serves as president of the court.