Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights: The Emergence of a Rule of Customary Int\u27l Law from U.N. Resolutions

This article is divided into four sections. Section I will discuss how a rule of customary international law generally develops, including discussions of development from conventional sources and the use of United Nations resolutions for finding a rule of customary international law generally. Section II will expound the treatment of and reliance upon the United Nations resolutions as a source of law by the International Court of Justice, in order to facilitate our discussion of an emerging rule of customary international law from resolutions. Section III will consider the limitations for using resolutions as binding statements of opinio juris. Finally, section IV will analyze the resolutions of both the General Assembly and Security Council that are particularly relevant to complying with human rights while combating terrorism and advocate that such resolutions have established the necessary opinio juris and, combined with the decisions of the high courts of influential countries which abide by the rule, confirms a rule of customary international law that counter-terrorism measures must conform to human rights. [excerpt

The Constitutive Act of the African Union, African Courts and the Protection of Human Rights: New Dispensation?

Before the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was reconstituted as the AU [African Union], African States paid lip service to human rights issues. The establishment of the AU through the adoption of the Constitutive Act of the African Union (Constitutive Act) was a watershed moment that African States tried to seize upon to institutionalize and streamline human rights promotion and protection, and send a clear signal that the AU was making a radical departure from the past, characterized by utter disregard for human rights protection. Yet, the African human rights normative framework remained predominantly unchanged because the primary instrument—the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter)—relates to an era when human rights were relegated to the periphery of African States’ concerns. Some authors who have written on this subject in the past have stopped short of indicating specific provisions of the African Charter in need of reform. Focusing on, among others, the recent activity reports of the African Commission, this Article tries to indicate the difficulties that are already being experienced since the adoption of the Constitutive Act and the creation of the ACH [African Court of Human and People\u27s Rights]. To these ends, Part I of this Article examines the revolutionary nature of the Constitutive Act, which by its terms introduced a reinvigorated focus on human rights at the political level, giving rise to the establishment of judicial institutions for better protection of human rights, although the practical implementation has largely fallen short. Part II is a critical examination of the primary human rights instrument— the African Charter—insofar as it stands in need of normative and procedural improvements. Part III is a critical evaluation of the constitutive instrument of the ACH and its jurisprudence and a discussion of the proposed ACJH. Part IV examines the need to transform the wider socio-economic and political context in which the human rights protection regime takes place. Part V presents recommendations and conclusions

Surging Intercountry Adoptions in Africa: Paltry Domestication of International Standards

This Article is dedicated to addressing the issues surrounding intercountry adoption, specifically in regards to Africa. In light of the dramatic increase in the number of intercountry adoptions from Africa, it has become imperative to take a critical look at the arguments for and against intercountry adoptions, the existing framework for this practice, and the jurisprudence and legislation of select African countries in this area. Through expounding on the aforementioned topics, this Article showcases the need for improved regulation. It then presents recommendations for how this system can be improved to further facilitate intercountry adoptions, a vital step for finding stable homes for orphans. [excerpt

THE INTOLERABLY SLOW IMPLEMENTATION OF AFRICAN WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND ITS IMPACT ON AFRICAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

This is a publication of the Michigan State University College of Law

Mulieris Dignitatem, Ephesians 5, and Domestic Violence

This Article considers the contribution of Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter On the Dignity and Vocation of Women to the deeper understanding of women’s dignity as it relates to the process of articulating and rearticulating international women’s rights, with particular attention on domestic violence.2 This letter, Mulieris Dignitatem, brings together some of the Catholic Church’s most important teachings on gender equality. This Article delineates norms articulated in Mulieris Dignitatem that can inform international standards regarding the protection of women from domestic violence. To date there are no legally binding global human rights instruments that explicitly recognize the right to be free from domestic violence, and remarkably, domestic violence is not robustly emphasized in several feminist legal theories. The objective of this Article is to contribute recommendations for a more truly pro-women global community and Catholic Church. [excerpt