The entry into force of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights in 1986 was received with mixed views. The Charter conflated three tiers of rights, contained numerous claw-back clauses, was drafted in vague language and lacked a robust enforcement mechanism. This led some to describe the African system as a mere paper tiger. In 2016, the African Human Rights System celebrated 30 years. During this time, African regional courts have progressively breathed life into the Charter through a number of bold and progressive decisions. The talk will assess the progress made by African regional courts in entrenching human rights norms, identify lessons for similar jurisdictions and reflect on prospects for these institutions as they navigate an increasingly complex adjudicative environment.  

Selemani is a lawyer and advocate of the high court of Tanzania. He has litigated over 20 cases before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, East African Court of Justice and African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights specializing in a wide range of high impact strategic litigation cases. He notably represented the African Commission and the Ogiek Community in first referral by the Commission to the Court to be heard on its merits. He also represented the “Kampala 11” suspects of the July 2010 Kampala terrorist bombings in their challenge of forced renditions and torture before the East African Court of Justice.

He has worked for the East Africa Law Society (EALS) and Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and has consulted on a wide range of legal, human rights and rule of law assignments for the African Union (AU), East African Community (EAC), European Union (EU) the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and German Organisation for International Cooperation (GiZ) among others. These have included;

• Drafting the report and protocol extending the jurisdiction of the African Court to cover international crimes.
• Serving as the lead consultant in the development of the African Court’s Legal Aid Framework.  
• Serving as a consultant in the development of the African Union Transitional Justice Policy Framework.

Selemani holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) Degree from Tumaini University and a Master of Laws Degree (LL.M) in Transnational Criminal Justice from the South African-German Centre for Criminal Justice and Development Research at the University of the Western Cape. He currently serves as a Senior Policy Officer for Political and Legal Matters and the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption where he oversees cooperation with states, anti-corruption agencies and civil society to tackle corruption, illicit financial flows and governance deficits in Africa.

Lunch will be provided.