A party’s non-participation in proceedings before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other regional courts in Africa

Across Africa, regional courts are regularly confronted with a party declining to participate in judicial proceedings, prompting questions as to how the institutions should seek to address this challenge. After identifying the prevalence of such non-participation, this article synthesises the approaches taken by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, and the COMESA Court of Justice. From a comparative analysis that extends to the practice of international courts and tribunals, it becomes evident that although these regional courts’ legal frameworks generally allow the adjudicators to enter a default judgment against a non-appearing party with minimal analysis, this discretion has not been used to date. Instead, regional courts in Africa are proactively striving to ensure that their judgments are sufficiently grounded in fact and law, resulting in a multitude of victories for the non-appearing party. The article concludes by questioning whether this rigorous evaluation can be sustained if the caseload of these judicial bodies continues to swell.