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The member states of the African Union are the independent countries within the African continent that collectively work towards the union's goals of promoting unity, economic development, and peace.
Explore Member StatesRecent Judgments
Wambura and Another v United Republic of Tanzania (Consolidated Applications No. 011/2016; Consolidated Applications No. 012/2016) [2023] AfCHPR 30 (5 September 2023) 5 September 2023 Samiratou v Republic of Benin (Application 054/2019) [2023] AfCHPR 33 (5 September 2023) 5 September 2023 Samiratou v Republic of Benin (2019/ القضية رقم 054) [2023] AfCHPR 33 (5 سبتمبر 2023) 5 September 2023 Samiratou c République du Bénin (Requête N° 054/2019) [2023] AfCHPR 33 (5 septembre 2023) 5 September 2023 Kabota v United Republic of Tanzania (Application 032/2017) [2023] AfCHPR 25 (5 September 2023) 5 September 2023 View more judgmentsRecent Legal Instruments
Standard of Operating Procedures for Working Groups as Special Mechanisms within the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) 8 September 2020 Revised Constitution of the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation (SARPCCO) 18 August 2018 Treaty of the Southern African Development Community 18 August 2018 Protocol on Trade in Goods 21 March 2018 Accord Portant Création de la Zone de Libre-Échange Continentale Africaine 21 March 2018 View more legal instrumentsRecent Soft Law
Communiqué du 1172ème du CPS tenu le 31 août 2023, sur la situation en République gabonaise 31 August 2023 Communique of the 1172nd of the PSC held on 31 August 2023, on the situation in the Republic of Gabon 31 August 2023 Communiqué de la 1171ème réunion du CPS tenue le 24 août 2023, portant sur « l’exposé actualisé sur l’élaboration de la Position africaine commune sur la cybersécurité en Afrique » 24 August 2023 Communique of the 1171st meeting of the PSC held on 24 August 2023, on “Updated Briefing on the Development of the Common African Position on Cyber-Security in Africa" 24 August 2023 Communique of the 1170th meeting of the PSC held on 22 August 2023, on Briefing on Continental Early Warning and Security Outlook by the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa (CISSA), the Africa Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT) and the AU Police Coordination Mechanism (AFRIPOL) 22 August 2023 View more Soft LawRecent Reports and Guides
The pursuit for legal claims on Reparations for Slavery and colonialism in Africa under international human rights law 15 September 2023 African Leaders Nairobi Declaration on Climate Change and Call to Action 6 September 2023 Press Release on the situation in Gabon following the presidential, legislative and municipal elections 30 August 2023 Communiqué de Presse sur la situation au Gabon subséquente aux élections présidentielles, législatives et municipales 30 August 2023 The Use of Technology in Elections in Africa 30 August 2023 View more Reports and GuidesExplore African national legal information
Explore African national legislation and court judgments from Legal Information Institutes across Africa.
Latest Commentary
Zambia’s constitutional court strongly backs judicial independence
- 15 September 2023
- Carmel Rickard
Zambia’s constitutional court has found parliament in breach of the constitution by not passing legislation to ensure the full financial independence of the judiciary and that it is adequately funded. In a decision strongly underlining the principle of judicial independence, the court has ordered that until these laws have been passed and put into effect, the minister for finance should report to parliament every six months on what has been done to ensure financial independence of the judiciary. Ironically, the challenge was brought by Zambian counsel, John Sangwa. In March 2020, the chief court registrar informed all the country’s judges and magistrates that Sangwa was no longer allowed to appear in court because of a ‘malpractice complaint’ filed against him by the lawyers’ association of Zambia. This ‘complaint’ followed a ‘denunciation’ of Sangwa by several judges after Sangwa was critical of certain new judicial appointments. He had also criticised the government when the former president, Edgar Lungu, announced he would stand again for the presidency, even though, in Sangwa’s view, he was ineligible.
New deal for awaiting trial prisoners in Namibia
- 15 September 2023
- Carmel Rickard
Namibia’s highest court has delivered a judgment that could see a new era for awaiting trial prisoners in that country. Most fundamentally, it has struck down, as unconstitutional, the definition of the word ‘offender’ which had previously included awaiting trial prisoners. The court said that to call people ‘offenders’ when they hadn’t been convicted, struck at the heart of the constitutionally guaranteed presumption of innocence, because it suggested they had already been found guilty. The court also held certain other practices in relation to awaiting trial prisoners were unconstitutional.
Church obtained land fraudulently, must give it back, with damages, court finds
- 14 September 2023
- Carmel Rickard
A high-profile Ugandan church and one of its senior pastors have been found to have obtained land by fraud. The high court in Kampala, which made that finding, has ordered that the church must quit the land that was fraudulently obtained, while the plots must be returned and the official title and registration deeds changed to reflect that order. In addition, the church and the pastor must pay a damages bill of UGX50m plus interest and legal costs.
Time to rethink Zambia’s law on ‘insulting language’?
- 12 September 2023
- Carmel Rickard
An outspoken Zambian magistrate has criticised the country’s law against the use of insulting language, saying some people saw mere criticism as insults, and that the law ‘when misapplied’ could result in an authoritarian and controlling society. It could cause ‘contemporary intolerance’ and ‘when not well prosecuted’, represented ‘an intense desire to gag uncomfortable voices of dissent’. He was giving judgment in a case where the accused was charged with naming someone as a witch and with using insulting language. The magistrate said it was the actions taken in consequence of a belief in witchcraft that are a problem, rather than the belief itself – but that this belief ‘has been deeply entrenched in the Zambian psyche’. He said it increasingly seemed that ‘old age is synonymous with being a witch in many communities in Zambia’, and that many elderly men and women were forced to leave their ancestral villages because of being labelled witches.
Bank not liable for loss after clerk, mandated to operate a client’s accounts, steals money
- 31 August 2023
- Carmel Rickard
Should banks allow staff to be given mandates so that they may operate the accounts of customers? It’s a question that has to be asked in the wake of a new decision by Namibia’s supreme court. The apex court had to consider the bank’s liability for funds misappropriated by a clerk who had been given a mandate by a customer to operate the customer’s accounts.