This project critically examines the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights' (African Court’s) sensitization missions, which are designed to enhance states' commitment to and public awareness of the Court. The project was pursued in partnership with the African Court.
The project’s key output thus far has been an analytical report, which will form the basis for the African Court developing an internal manual for Court officials (i.e., judges, legal officers, and other members of the Registry) conducting its sensitization missions.
The report provides a comprehensive overview of the Court’s sensitization missions, analyzing their history, strategic objectives, practical implementation, and documented outcomes. This analysis clarifies challenges, such as inconsistent follow-up and resource limitations, which inhibit outreach activities from achieving their strategic objectives. The report also offers evidence-based recommendations for the preparation, execution, and follow-up phases of the Court’s sensitization missions. Additionally, to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of future sensitization efforts, it offers recommendations for enhanced internal coordination and strategic external partnerships.
This seminar will provide an overview of the study’s key findings and will consider how to best share them with various stakeholders. The Court is treating the analytical report as an internal document, but it will be crucial to disseminate the insights from this research to a wider audience, in the interest of mobilizing stakeholders to contribute to the Court’s strategic objectives and providing guidance for other international courts. For academia, this research can contribute to the expanding literature on judges’ “off-the-bench” or courts’ non-adjudicative activities. For civil society actors, government officials, and international organization bureaucrats, the study clarifies opportunities for better partnering with the African Court specifically and internationally courts more generally.
For those interested in reading a condensed version of the analytical report, please contact Nicole De Silva at nicole.desilva@concordia.ca.
Biography:
Nicole De Silva is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. She holds a DPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford. Her research broadly explores how states, international organizations, and civil society organizations influence the promotion of human rights and legal accountability, especially in Africa. She is particularly interested in the politics surrounding the development of international law and the organizations that aim to uphold it, such as international courts. Her most recent publications have appeared in journals such as the European Journal of International Relations, Law & Society Review, and Canadian Journal of Political Science. Further details regarding her research can be found on her website.