عنوان

Regional integration and human rights in Africa

Number

TLets559763

Title Proper

Regional integration and human rights in Africa

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Odinkalu, Chidi Anselm

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2008

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Ph.D.

Body granting the degree

London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)

Text preceding or following the note

2008

Text of Note

Human rights norms may have universal application but States have the primary obligation aloneand through international and regional co-operation to guarantee their protection and enjoyment.Regional systems for the protection of human rights have become an established part of suchmechanisms of international co-operation. Each regional system is uniquely shaped by the Statescomprised in it, often reflecting both regional contextual characteristics and comparative andhistorical experience.So far as the African human rights system is concerned, the scope of its overall obligations andinstitutional elements are somewhat unclear in the context of regional integration arrangements.This thesis therefore sets out to bring clarity to these issues in order to better realise the fullpotential of the African human rights system in its quest to ensure effective protection of humanrights and offer more effective remedies for violations of human rights.The study takes a holistic approach and argues that Africa's regional human rights systemincludes regional integration arrangements in which human rights are fused on the continent. Itinvestigates and analyses the evolution of regionalism as well as norms and institutions foradvancing regional integration and human rights in Africa. Particular attention is paid in thisconnection to evidence of over-laps, complementarity, and convergence in such norms andinstitutions.A related objective of this study is to unravel the extent to which Africa's regional intergrationsystems may be said to be now underpinned by objective political values binding upon itsMember States as reflected in the treaties establishing such systems. This is justified on thepremise that integration is an imperative response to the contradictory tendencies of globalisation,nationalism, and the potential or actual arbitrary behaviour of individual States, which tend toundermine the objective of the universal protection of human rights. In these circumstances, thecontinuing sustainability of the promise of human rights in Africa depends significantly oneffective international and regional oversight of State conduct. For this purpose, regionalintegration and human rights mutually reinforce one another in binding legal commitments and..11regional institutions for their implementation. Far from being mutually antagonistic, they are nowmutually interdependent and overlap in defining the scope and functions of sovereignterritoriality in Afiica. In examining these issues, the thesis deploys the principal sources andmethods of intemational law.111

Odinkalu, Chidi Anselm

London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y