Constitutional Adjudication in Africa

Author: Charles M. Fombad
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780198810216
Published In: August 2017
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: Africa ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Since the 1990 wave of constitutional reforms in Africa, the role of constitutional courts or courts exercising the power to interpret and apply constitutions have become a critical aspect to the on-going process of constitutional construction, reconstruction, and maintenance. These developments appear, at least from the texts of the revised or new constitutions, to have resulted in fundamental changes in the nature and role of courts exercising jurisdiction in constitutional matters.

The chapters in this second volume of the Stellenbosch Handbooks in African Constitutional Law series are the first to undertake a critical and comparative examination of the interplay of the diverse forms of constitutional review models on the continent. Comparative analysis is particularly important given the fact that over the last two decades, constitutional courts in Africa have been asked to decide a litany of hotly-contested and often sensitive disputes of a social, political, and economic nature. As the list of areas in which these courts have intervened has grown, so too have their powers, actual or potential.

By identifying and examining the different models of constitutional review adopted, these chapters consider the extent to which these courts are contributing to enhancing constitutionalism and respect for the rule of law on the continent. The chapters show how the long-standing negative image of African courts is slowly changing. The courts have in responded in different ways to the variety of constraints, incentives, and opportunities that have been provided by the constitutional reforms of the last two decades to act as the bulwark against authoritarianism, and this provides a rich field for analysis, filling an important gap in the literature of contemporary comparative constitutional adjudication.

Introduction, Charles M. Fombad

Part 1 General Overview
1: An Overview of Contemporary Models of Constitutional Review in Africa, Charles M. Fombad

Part 2 Archetypical Examples of Different Models of African Constitutional Adjudication
2: Centralized Model of Constitutional Adjudication: The Constitutional Court of Benin, Sègnonna Horace Adjolohoun
3: The Cameroonian Constitutional Council: Faithful Servant of an Unaccountable System, Charles M. Fombad
4: The Constitutional Court of Angola: Judicial Restraint in a Dominant Party State, André Thomashausen
5: The Supreme Court of Ghana under the 1992 Constitution: Nature of Jurisdiction as the Apex Court and Contribution to the Promotion of Constitutionalism, Kofi Quashigah
6: Constitutional Adjudication in Nigeria: Formal Structures and Substantive Impact, Ameze Guobadia
7: Constitutional Review in South Africa: Features, Changes, and Controversies, James Fowkes
8: Unique but Ineffective: Assessing the Constitutional Adjudication System in Ethiopia, Adem Abebe

Part 3 The Impact of Transjudicialism on Constitutional Adjudication
9: The Effects of International Law Norms on Constitutional Adjudication in Africa, Magnus Killander
10: The Impact of Regional and Sub-Regional Courts and Tribunals on Constitutional Adjudication in Africa, Bonolo Ramadi Dinokopila

Part 4 Constitutional Adjudication and Promotion of Constitutionalism
11: 'Made in Courts' Democracies? Constitutional Adjudication and Politics in African Constitutionalism, Sègnonna Horace Adjolohoun
12: Exploring the Contribution of Ubuntu in Constitutional Adjudication - Towards the Indigenization of Constitutionalism in South Africa?, Christa Rautenbach

Part 5 Decision-Making and Working Practices
13: Handling of Petitions by the Constitutional Court of Benin, Theodore Holo
14: The Birth of the South African Constitutional Court, Richard J. Goldstone
15: Decision Making and Working Practices of the Supreme Court of Ghana, Samuel Kofi Date-Bah

Part 6 Conclusion
16: Constitutional Adjudication and Constitutional Justice in Africa's Uncertain Transition: Mapping the Way Forward, Charles M. Fombad