Teleological Interpretation in the Emerging Socio-Economic Rights Jurisprudence of the African Court: African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v Republic of Kenya

Abstract

The African Court has recently decided on merits its first socio-economic rights case – ‘the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v Republic of Kenya’. The Court applied aspects of the teleological approach to interpretation to interpret socio-economic rights in question. The article examines the Court’s application of the teleological approach in its emerging socio-economic rights jurisprudence. The analysis shows that, although the Court found the respondent State in violation of a wide range of socio-economic rights, there are still some shortcomings in its application of the teleological approach. The African Court did not extensively exhaust all the interpretative tools within the African Charter that are in line with the teleological approach. Consequently, the interpretative potential embedded in these aspects of the teleological approach for effective interpretation of socio-economic rights in the African Charter is restricted. The Court also applied the tenets of the teleological approach inappropriately and interpreted some rights relevant to socio-economic rights based on a narrow textual approach. The mixing of the interpretative approaches leads to jurisprudential inconsistencies. If the Court certainly adopts and appropriately apply the teleological interpretation, it will contribute in advancing effective promotion and protection of these rights in the Continent.