Abstract

LANDO, Victor. The domestic impact of the decisions of the East African Court of Justice. Afr. hum. rights law j. [online]. 2018, vol.18, n.2, pp.463-485. ISSN 1996-2096.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1996-2096/2018/v18n2a2.

The East African Court of Justice is the judicial arm of the East African Community and is vested with the primary mandate of interpreting and applying the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community. The EAC Treaty does not contain a catalogue of human rights, neither does it constitute the EACJ as a human rights court with the power to adjudicate human rights cases. Nonetheless, the EACJ over time has handed down decisions that have had the effect of safeguarding and promoting human rights within the Community. It is in this context that the article explores the influence of the EACJ's decisions within the legal frameworks of the respective member states, beyond mere compliance by the member states with the orders of the Court. Inclusive in this is an analysis of how these decisions have influenced the development, interpretation or application of law and policy, and the practices of state and non-state actors in the domestic sphere of the East African Community member states. The overall finding of the article is that there are clear linkages, albeit limited in scale and spread, between the decisions of the EACJ and national laws, policies and practices of national actors, which extend beyond the domestic implementation of the Court's decisions and which need to be further investigated and upscaled in order to harness their potential benefits for the EAC integration process.

Keywords : East African Court of Justice; human rights; domestic impact; EAC Treaty.

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