Exhaustion of Local Remedies Rule in the Jurisprudence of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights

For a case to be admissible before the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (African Court), the applicant must, inter alia, exhaust local remedies, subject to certain exceptions. This article considers the approach of the African Court to the question of exhaustion of local remedies as reflected in its jurisprudence between December 2009 and December 2018. The analysis shows that while the Court has adopted a flexible approach in most instances, thus facilitating access to the Court for victims of rights violations, it has also exercised its proprio motu power to consider the rule in a restrictive fashion. Consequently, in such instances, not only limiting access but also limiting opportunity for it to address rights claims.