CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2009
| Author | Ugochukwu, Basil Emeka |
|---|---|
| Title | CHECKMATE: A COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF THE PROTECTION OF FAIR TRIAL RIGHTS UNDER THE AFRICAN AND EUROPEAN HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEMS |
| Summary | This thesis aims to conduct a comparative inquiry into the normative content of the fair hearing and its jurisprudence developed over the years by the African and European human rights systems; to compare the depth and rigour of such jurisprudence in the light of what each system has achieved or failed to achieve and to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the jurisprudence of each system. I argue that the fair trial norms and jurisprudence of the European human rights system are far more developed that those of the African system. The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights has done a lot to expand the African fair trial regime. Nevertheless, the African system has a lot of catching up to do and as the African Court on Human Rights becomes the enforcement institution of the African system, this thesis points out areas where its fair trial jurisprudence require improvement. This right to fair trial is common to both the African and European systems for the protection of human rights. It is contained in Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Articles 6 and 7 of the European Convention. Both provisions have spurned considerable deliberation in the jurisprudence of the two systems. Going through their norms and the jurisprudence developed by their respective implementing institutions, I have pointed areas of convergence and also areas of difference. We saw gaps in both these norms and jurisprudence and how the two systems responded in covering them. For some reasons, the European system has demonstrated its effectiveness shown so poignantly in the enforceable powers of its court supervised by the highest political institutions of the European Union. The African system is apparently hostaged by unaccountable political forces and its Commission, despite its best efforts, still remaining largely “a façade, a yoke that African leaders have put around [African] necks” |
| Supervisor | Bard Karoly |
| Department | Legal Studies LLM |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2009/ugochukwu_basil.pdf |
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