Application Deadline: 30th April, 2021
The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, in collaboration with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, will be hosting a conference on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights @40, on 2 July 2021. The conference will be held in memory of Professor Christof Heyns.
In memoriam: Professor Christof Heyns
The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights was adopted by the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Nairobi, Kenya, on 27 June 1981. Twenty years ago, in March 2001, the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, organised a conference with the title ‘The future of the African regional human rights system’ to reflect on the achievements of the system and the need for reform to further human rights on the African continent. Papers from the conference was published in the newly launched African Human Rights Law Journal. Among these papers were ‘The African regional human rights system: In need for reform?’ by Professor Christof Heyns, the then director of the Centre for Human Rights. Professor Heyns concluded his article by noting that engaging in debates about reform of the African regional human rights system ‘is to exercise a form of ownership, and to say that since the Charter belongs to all of us, it is up to us to continuously ensure its improvement.’ Professor Heyns continued his engagement with the African regional human rights system, and with international human rights law more broadly, over the next two decades until his untimely passing in March 2021, aged 62.
To mark the 40th anniversary of the Charter, and in honour of Professor Heyns’ legacy, the Centre for Human Rights invites abstracts for an online one-day conference to be held on 2 July 2021. Selected papers from the conference will be published in the African Human Rights Law Journal.
Papers can deal with substantive aspects of the African Charter, including its protocols, or aspects of the institutional framework put in place to ensure implementation of the Charter such as the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Abstracts
Abstracts for the conference (between 250 and 300 words) should be submitted by email to [email protected] by 30 April 2021. Abstracts should:
(a) have a clear and descriptive title;
(b) indicate the main question(s) to be addressed;
(c) identify the proposed methodology; and
(d) set out the anticipated findings (and their implications).
Please submit a CV or bio together with your abstract.
Selected presenters will be informed by 7 May and should submit their draft papers by 1 July. Final drafts, reworked after the conference, should be submitted by 31 July, and will be subjected to peer review.
For application details, visit https://www.chr.up.ac.za/latest-news/2487-call-for-papers-conference-on-40-years-of-the-african-charter-honouring-the-memory-of-christof-heyns
