AU confronts ‘paper rights’ as compliance crisis hits 20-year milestone to date
Implementation gap threatens to render regional justice irrelevant.
THURSDAY March 5, 2026
By Patty Magubira
The Tranquillity News Reporter, Tanzania
In a powerful display of continental solidarity, a head of state, African Union (AU) officials, and civil society leaders gathered in Arusha, Tanzania, early this week to mark the 20th anniversary of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
This year’s opening of the Judicial Year served as both a celebration of two decades of African jurisprudence and a sobering call to close the implementation gap that still leaves many victims without redress.
Despite two decades of pioneering legal work, the African Union Permanent Representatives’ Committee (PRC) admits that a stark implementation gap threatens to render regional justice irrelevant.
Closing the implementation gap, the PRC outlines an aggressive roadmap to transition the AU member states from ceremonial rhetoric to binding domestic enforcement.
A roadmap to 2063
To save the court’s mandate and align with the Agenda 2063 Vision, the new policy framework the PRC unveiled demands that member states adopt five strategic pillars.
Ambassador Willy Nyamitwe, Chairperson of the PRC, says each member state should in the first pillar establish a national compliance unit through its ministry of justice to track and enforce rulings.
The second pillar is restoring direct access to the court by embarking on a new push for states to sign Article 34(6) declarations to empower citizens.
The third pillar is synchronising the Judiciary by integrating Arusha’s jurisprudence into national law school curricula.
The fourth pillar is using the African Peer Review Mechanism for grading states on human rights compliance.
The fifth pillar is giving the court financial sovereignty by moving away from the current model where 75 per cent of its budget is provided by European Union, GIZ, and other international partners in favour of 100 per cent AU-funded operations.
Regional compliance divide
Available data shows a deeply fragmented landscape of justice across the African Union’s five regions.
While the court’s legal standards are internationally praised, their domestic execution is failing, particularly in Central and North Africa.
The 2026 regional compliance data shows West Africa leads the continent with a 55-per-cent compliance rate, buoyed by high ratification levels.
Central Africa trails significantly at 15 per cent, hampered by ongoing conflicts and limited diplomatic engagement with the Arusha-based legal facility.
East Africa maintains a high ratification rate of 85 per cent but struggles with a 40-pe- cent-compliance rate, largely due to a backlog of cases and slow legislative integration.
The data highlights a troubling trend: States are far more likely to pay their way out of a judgment than to change their laws.
Financial reparations boast a 65-percent compliance rate, as one-off payments are often politically easier to manage. Legislative reform sits at a dismal 15 per cent.
Transforming a regional court order into a national law remains the greatest hurdle to regional justice.
The core goodwill messages of the African Court Coalition to the AU member states and the court, respectively, are direct access for individuals and non-governmental organisations and frontiers of implementation.
Sophia Ebby, Coordinator of the coalition, calls for renewed political will from member states to sign the Article 34(6) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which is essential for reinforcing public confidence in continental justice.
Prepare both structurally and procedurally for emerging frontiers in human rights, specifically artificial intelligence and digital technology, climate and environmental justice, and business and human rights,” Sophia Ebby, Coordinator of the African Court Coalition.
“Prepare both structurally and procedurally for emerging frontiers in human rights, specifically artificial intelligence and digital technology, climate and environmental justice, and business and human rights,’ she tells the court.
Stark warning on sovereignty
A sombre warning of the gathering is that the continent’s premier human rights body is facing a crisis of authority.
John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana, addresses sovereignty concerns that have led four states to revoke Article 34(6) declarations in the last decade—a move that bars individuals and non-governmental organisations from direct access to the court.
“The journey from judgment to justice remains too long,” President Mahama tells diplomats and jurists in the continental court’s chamber, stressing: “Our people are our greatest inheritance. It is time our legal ecosystems reflected that.”
Currently, only eight out of 55 AU Member States maintain active declarations allowing direct citizen access, down from a peak of 11.
The Ghanaian President moved the assembly with a raw personal narrative.
Recalling the nightmares of his youth, Mahama speaks of his father’s repeated detentions following military coups—once for simply offering unsolicited advice to a leader.
“I am still the boy who learned how dangerous it can be to challenge those in power,” says Mahama, framing the court not as a distant legal body, but as a “moral compass” essential to preventing leaders from acting as “judge, jury, and executioner.”
He argues that Africa’s true wealth lies not in its minerals, but in its people—a resource he claims was squandered during the “lost decades” of political instability.
Tanzania model as a path forward
Zainab Athuman Katimba, Tanzania’s Deputy Minister for Justice and Legal Affairs, says the country is committed to the court, providing specific examples of how the African Court’s rulings have influenced its domestic law.
Following the Alex Thomas vs Tanzania ruling, she says, Tanzania enacted the Legal Aid Act [CAP. 21], proving that regional judicial pressure can lead to tangible domestic reform.
She adds: “The Court of Appeal of Tanzania referenced African Court principles in Anaclet Paulo vs Tanzania case when assessing bail restrictions in the Criminal Procedure Act.”
The Tanzania model, concludes the Deputy Minister, can become a blueprint for success.
“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try spending a night with a mosquito,” President Mahama quipps.
The message to the 55 heads of state is clear: The era of ‘paper rights’ is over; the era of protected rights must begin.
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The Tranquility News Reporter/Sub Editor, Tanzania
Patty Magubira is an experienced environmental and business editor whose career started at the Tanzania's state-owned newspaper - The Daily News. He is a man of perfection. Aided by his extensive training as a community forestry expert before joining Tanzania School of Journalism. Magubira had successfully held various key posts in newsrooms, giving him an unmatched connections in media fraternity. Having worked as a bureau chief in Arusha and Mwanza, he managed to build a team work, boosting sales to the highest level ever. He was then promoted to a sub-editor after completing a training in Nairobi, Kenya. His incredible experience, critical thinking and exposure are critical to the quality of any media outlet.
