The Impact of Clawback Clauses on Human and Peoples' Rights in Africa

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the birth of the African Union are important developments in the history of Africa. For the first time there will be a continental judicial mechanism for the adjudication of human rights (HR) issues. However, the African HR system has been dogged by political bias that has marred the development of a credible HR regime on the continent. The difficulty may therefore lie in the manner in which the proposed court applies its discretion in relation to the doctrine of the margin of appreciation.