A teleological approach to the interpretation of socio-economic rights in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT : Realising socio-economic rights is significant for improving the socio-economicconditions of Africa's people and ensuring that people have access to socio-economicservices and a dignified life. The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights bothexplicitly and implicitly protects a wide range of socio-economic rights. Interpreting thesesocio-economic rights in a manner that guarantees their efficacy and improves peoples'socio-economic conditions is essential on the African Continent. Supervisory organshave, however, been inconsistent in their interpretive approaches to the socio-economicrights in the African Charter.This dissertation investigates the extent to which the teleological approach tointerpretation can assist supervisory organs in interpreting socio-economic rights in amanner that ensures their efficacy. The study identifies the need to advance a coherentmethodology for the application of the teleological approach. Thereafter, it develops amethodology that engages a wide range of interpretative tools both within and beyondthe African Charter. This methodology can assist supervisory organs to coherentlyelaborate on the African Charter's object and purpose to generate the meaning, scope,and content of socio-economic rights and their related obligations.Advancing socio-economic rights in Africa necessitates a model of review groundedin the teleological approach to interpretation. Supervisory organs, in particular theAfrican Commission, have applied various models of review to assess States'compliance with their socio-economic rights obligations. This dissertation develops thereasonableness model of review, which incorporates minimum core standards andproportionality. It is argued that this model can assist supervisory organs in assessingStates' compliance with their progressive and immediate socio-economic rightsobligations. Furthermore, it can provide a basis for evaluating the justification forlimitations imposed by States' on socio-economic rights.Advancing the teleological approach to interpreting the socio-economic rights in theAfrican Charter can therefore assist supervisory organs to make a meaningfulcontribution to protecting socio-economic rights on the African Continent.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University