Gabriel Ajabu Mastaki
According to Article 5.3 of the Protocol establishing the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ouagadougou Protocol), 'The Court may permit individuals and non-governmental organizations having observer status with the Commission to file applications directly with it in accordance with Article 34(6) of this Protocol. Article 34(6) in turn makes the admissibility of such applications subject to the 'declaration by the State accepting the competence of the Court to receive the applications set out in article 5.3 of this protocol. From the spirit of this provision, it gives to the States parties an automatic access to the Court, while it remains a barrier for the individuals to access to the international and or continental justice because until now, a very reduced number of the States parties to the charter has already made a similar declaration, that is to say 8 States out of 32 that have ratified the protocol In our opinion, to face this problem, the African system should be nourished by the experience of the European system of protection of the human rights which allows the individuals to seize it.
