Africa The African Children’s Charter at 30: What Implications for Child and Family Law?

Summary

Résumé

Le présent chapitre examine le progrès réalisé et les difficultés rencontrées dans la mise en oeuvre de la Charte africaine des droits et du bien-être de l’enfant (ci-après la Charte) dans les domaines du droit de l’enfant et de la famille. Cette analyse couvrira quelques-uns des évolutions majeures intervenus en matière des droits de l’enfant et de la famille suivant les 30 premières années de la Charte, y compris des réformes législatives, le développement d’institutions spécialisées, la violence domestique et les autres formes de violence, le mariage des enfants, l’adoption internationale et la maternité de substitution, ainsi que le châtiment corporel infligé par les parents.

INTRODUCTION

This chapter reviews some progress made, and challenges experienced, in assessing the impact of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (hereinafter the Charter) in the child and family law domains. Adopted in 1990, and having entered into force in 1999, the thirtieth anniversary of the Charter was celebrated in 2020. While many provisions of the Charter mirror, or are substantially similar to, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (hereafter UN CRC), there are uniquely African variants, or additional provisions, that give the Charter its African cultural fingerprint. Added to this is the expansive mandate of its monitoring body, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC). The Charter provides that this Committee of Experts shall have the power to receive and consider State Party reports, but also to receive communications brought to it of alleged violations of childrens rights. It has also been given the mandate to commission interdisciplinary assessments of the situation of African problems in the fields of the rights and welfare of the child, the powers to formulate and lay down principles and rules aimed at protecting the rights and welfare of children in Africa; and powers to resort to any appropriate method if investigating any matter falling within the ambit of the Charter.