An analysis of the approaches of the African Commission to the socio-economic rights provisions of the African Charter : a comparative analysis with European and inter-American regional systems

Abstract

This study adopts a comparative approach to analysing the realisation of socioeconomic rights by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights as compared with the European Commission and the Inter-American Commission. It examines the different approaches the Commission has adopted in interpreting the socioeconomic rights provision of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights with a view to assessing its appropriateness or otherwise. In addition, the study discusses some of the major challenges facing the African Commission which sometimes makes it difficult for the Commission to meet its obligations in realising socioeconomic rights guaranteed in the Charter. It then compares the approach of the African Commission with other regional human rights bodies such as the European Courts on Human Rights and the Intern-American Commission on Human Rights. It concludes by noting that the African Commission can learn some lessons from the experiences of the European and Inter-American systems on human rights with regard to the realisation of socioeconomic rights.