001/11 Femi Falana v. The African Union African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights In The Matter of Femi Falana v. The African Union Application no. 001/2011 Judgment The Court composed of: Gerard NIYUNGEKO, President; Sophia A.B. AKUFFO, Vice- President; Jean MUTSINZI, Bernard M. NGOEPE, Modibo T.GUINDO, Fatsah OUGUERGOUZ, Augustino S.L. RAMADHANI, Duncan TAMBALA, Elsie N. THOMPSON and Sylvain ORE- Judges; and Robert ENO Registrar In the matter of: Femi Falana Esq., appearing in person v. The African Union, represented by. Mr. Ben KIOKO, Legal Counsel of the African Union Commission Mr. Bright MAN DO, Legal Officer, Office of The Legal Counsel of the African Union Commission Advocate Bahame Mukirya Tom NYANDUGA After deliberation, delivers the following majority judgment: I. The Subject Matter of the Application 1. By an application dated 14 February 2011, Femi Falana, Esq. (hereinafter referred to as "the Applicant"), a Nigerian national, who describes himself as a human rights lawyer based in Lagos, Nigeria, seized the Court with an application against the African Union (hereinafter referred to as "the Respondent"). 2. In his Application, the Applicant alleges that he has made several attempts to get the Federal Republic of Nigeria (hereinafter referred to as "Nigeria") to deposit the declaration required under Article 34 (6) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (hereinafter referred to as "the Protocol") to no avail. He alleges further, that he has been denied access to the Court because of the failure or refusal of Nigeria to make the declaration to accept the competence of the Court in line with Article 34 (6) of the Protocol. 3. He submits in his Application that, since his efforts to have Nigeria make the declaration have failed, he decided to file an application against the Respondent, as a representative of its, then, 53 Member States (now 54), asking the Court to find Article 34 (6) of the Protocol as inconsistent with Article 1, 2, 7, 13, 26 and 66 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (hereinafter referred to as "the Charter") as, 1

Select target paragraph3