V Africa: A African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights

Published date01 June 1992
Date01 June 1992
DOI10.1177/016934419201000210
Subject MatterPart B: Human Rights News
NQHR
2/1992
case law (Advisory Opinion OC-6/86, on the meaning of the word "laws" in
Article 30 of the American Convention), "only legal norms that have been
approved by the legislative branch and promulgated by the executive branch
qualify as proper subjects of an advisory opinion." The Inter-American
Commission let the Court know that it was handling several cases against Costa
Rica dealing with violations of the right guaranteed by Article 8(2)(b) of the
Convention, and that it had rendered an opinion only in one of them, since it
had recommended Costa Rica to conform its domestic law to the Convention
and compliance with this recommendation was still pending.
The Court did not agree with the Government of Uruguay's contention that
the substance of Advisory Opinion 6 could be applied to this request, as
it
had
made clear that the interpretation of the word "laws" was meant only for
Article 30 of the Convention, other interpretations of the word being possible
regarding its use in other Convention's provisions. This notwithstanding, the
Court did not render the advisory opinion requested by Costa Rica. In the light
of the information .provided by the Commission, the Court ruled that
"a reply to the questions presented by Costa Rica, could produce, under the guise of an
advisory opinion, a determination of contentious matters not yet referred to the Court, without
providing the victim with the opportunity to participate in the proceedings. Such a result would
distort the Convention system."
V
AFRICA
AAfrican Commission on
Human
and
Peoples' Rights'
The tenthsessionof the African Commission was held at a time when the 10th
anniversary of the adoption of the African Charter on Human and Peoples'
Rights and the 5th anniversary
of
its entry into force were celebrated. In
addition, recent democratic changes in a number of African countries were
expected to have a positive impact on the activities of the Commission. These
high expectations were underlined by the presence of the UN Undersecretary-
General for Human Rights, the Chairman of the Inter-American Commission
of Human Rights and representatives of more than 50 NGOs. Furthermore, the
International Commission
of
Jurists in collaboration with the African Centre on
Democracy and Human Rights Studies had organized a workshop on NGO
*Manfred Nowak / Klaas van Walraven
222

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