The Relevance of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Addressing Climate Change in Africa: A Critical Assessment
摘要
In Daniel Billy and Others v. Australia 2022 (the Torres Strait Islanders Petition), the UN Human Rights Committee determined in September 2022 that Australia had violated the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by failing to adequately protect Torres Strait Islanders from the adverse effects of climate change. This article focuses on the possibility of such litigation before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights because it has lately surfaced before regional human rights judicial organizations such as the European Court of Human Rights. Article 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter) guarantees a generally agreeable environment favourable to the development of all peoples. Thus, in contrast to other regional courts for human rights, a State’s compliance with its duties to respect and preserve the human right to a healthy environment, which can include climate change challenges, may be directly reviewed by the African Court. To date, there have not been many climate change-related trials. This could be because of domestic roadblocks like shoddy legal systems, backlogged courts, or inadequate funding. Under normal circumstances, this would prevent potential litigants from using all available domestic remedies before taking advantage of the African human rights system. Furthermore, in the African context, climate change has most likely been less important than more general environmental disputes that focus more on land, property rights, or natural resources (as evidenced by the most recent African Court case, Ogiek, which is African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v. Republic of Kenya 2017. Africa is expected to join the global climate lawsuit movement, facing procedural challenges in litigation before regional and international courts. This chapter informs non-state actors about admissibility issues and whether to seek advisory opinions.