Social and Economic Rights in Africa

Nsongurua Udombana is Professor of Public International Law and, presently, affi liates with Topfaith University, Nigeria. He obtained the degrees of Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and Master of Laws (LLM) at the University of Lagos, and Doctor Legum (LLD) at the University of South Africa. A fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCArb), Professor Udombana has been a member of the Nigerian Bar since 1989, besides membership of other professional bodies. He previously taught at Central European University (CEU), Budapest; York University, Ontario; and in several African universities, including the University of Lagos and Babcock University, both in Nigeria, and the University of Pretoria, as well as the Open University of Tanzania. A Genest Global scholar of the Osgoode Hall Law School for 2011–2012, Professor Udombana was formerly Director, CEU Centre for Human Rights; Dean of Law, University of Uyo, Nigeria; pioneer Pro-Chancellor, Ritman University, Nigeria; and member of Nigeria’s National Conference in 2014. He writes and publishes on international law themes, with an Afrocentric perspective. He is a widely read scholar.

‘Professor Udombana has authored a profoundly in-depth contribution to the global conversation around socio-economic rights. Charged with intellectual rigour and scholarly passion, Socio-economic Rights in Africa is an essential reading on an oft-neglected aspect of development thought and praxis. I highly recommend it’. – H.E. Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria ‘Professor Udombana is a leading and widely-read scholar on the African human rights system. In this latest addition to his impressive canons, he uses a broad brush to paint the legal landscape on Socio-economic Rights in Africa. The book is a rich resource for the human rights community’. – Hon. Rémy N. Lumbu, Chairperson, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

• ForewordPrefaceAcknowledgementsAbbreviationsChapter 1GENERAL INTRODUCTIONHypothesisStructureMethodologyChapter 2SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS AS NORMATIVE AND JUSTICIABLE STANDARDSIntroductionThe ProblematicThe DialecticsA SynthesisConclusionChapter 3 AFRICA IN THE UNITED NATIONS’ SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS FRAMEWORKIntroduction‘In Larger Freedom’The Modern Magna CartaThe Human Rights CovenantsOther Specialised TreatiesConclusionChapter 4SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS IN REGIONAL AFRICA IntroductionDecades of Standard SettingInterrogating RightsConclusionChapter 5CONSTITUTIONALISING SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTSIntroductionConstitutionalising RightsSome Thematic AnalysisConclusionChapter 6THE CONCEPTS OF OBLIGATIONS AND ‘MINIMUM CORE’IntroductionStates Obligations in International LawStates Obligations in Municipal LawTypology of ObligationsProgressive Realisation and the ‘Minimum Core’The ‘Good Faith’ PrincipleConclusionChapter 7INTERPRETING SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTSIntroductionThe Judicial FunctionInterpretive MethodologiesLimits of Judicial FunctionConclusionChapter 8MAKING SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS WORK SummaryFrom Vision to Reality Conclusion: ‘Moonglow’BibliographyIndex