... provides for three heads of jurisdiction for the African Court; contentious, advisory and conciliatory. Each must be examined in light of their potential strengths and weaknesses. Firstly, there is the subject-matter jurisdiction. The Court's jurisdiction extends 'to all cases and disputes submitted to it concerning the interpretation and application of the Charter, this Protocol and any other relevant Human Rights Instruments ratified by the States concerned.'2 In contrast to the European and Inter-American systems, the ACHPR will 'exercise direct jurisdiction over all human rights instruments 'ratified by the state concerned'3. This means the ACHPR's jurisdiction extends over regional, sub-regional, bilateral, and multi-lateral treaties. The Court is not limited to the Charter unlike its European or American counterparts that only have direct jurisdiction over the Conventions under which they were created. Udombana asserts that this has profound implications and takes the example of women's rights in Africa4. Mutua had previously expressed the ...

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