African court on human rights to sit in Tunis

By Penlope Nankunda

Tunisia will this month host the 51st Ordinary Session of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (AfCHPR). The Court, which is composed of eleven Judges who are nationals of Member States of the African Union elected in their individual capacity, will sit from 12 November to 7 December 2018 in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia.

The Judges, among others, will examine over 10 applications during the four-week session.  At least five Judgments are scheduled during the period. In a recent sitting at the Court's headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, judgements were passed on two long-running cases involving Tanzanian citizens.

The Tunisian government offered to host the Session following a meeting between the delegation of the African Court led by President Sylvain Oré and the President of the Republic of Tunisia H.E. Beji Caid Essebsi in April 2017.

The African Court delegation was in Tunis on sensitisation mission.

The Court, which meets four times a year in Ordinary Sessions and may hold Extra-Ordinary Sessions, had received 190 applications As at 1 October 2018 and has finalised 48.

Lady Justice Solomy Balungi Bossa was Uganda's last national representative to the court. Her tenure was cut short when she moved to serve at The Hague.