A proposal to establish an African High Court for Liberties and Elections (HCAL-E), spearheaded by Franco-Comorian lawyer Saïd Larifou and scheduled to be unveiled in Dakar in 2026, is stirring sharp debate within Pan-Africanist circles, pitting advocates of expanded rights protections against critics wary of political and judicial interference.
Presented by its promoter, Saïd Larifou, as a response to what he describes as “judicial arbitrariness” and “electoral coups” in Africa, the Dakar 2026 Conference aims to lay the groundwork for an independent supranational court with broad jurisdiction over civil liberties and electoral disputes.
According to Larifou, the proposed court would allow any African citizen to petition a continental body directly, bypassing national jurisdictions, in order to safeguard fundamental rights and ensure the integrity of elections.
The blueprint notably provides for judges to be elected by independent institutions — such as bar associations and law faculties — rather than appointed by governments. It also outlines an unprecedented enforcement mechanism linking the court’s rulings to regional financial institutions, potentially exposing non-compliant states to financial and diplomatic sanctions.
However, the initiative has drawn strong opposition from several Pan-African organisations and movements across Africa and the diaspora, which view it as an attempt to create a “parallel justice system” outside established institutional frameworks.
In a joint statement received Thursday by APA, the groups — including the Pan-African Patriotic Movement — argue that the project amounts to “an infringement on the judicial sovereignty of African states and a precedent likely to weaken existing dispute-resolution mechanisms.”
The signatories stress that issues of governance, rights and electoral processes fall within the remit of national and regional courts, as well as continental institutions recognised by the African Union. They denounce what they describe as an “opportunistic” initiative that could serve external agendas under the guise of defending civil liberties.
The statement also calls on Senegalese authorities, urging President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko to ensure that Senegalese territory is not used as a platform for interference in the internal affairs of African states.
Senegal, described as a “historic land of Pan-Africanism,” is encouraged to preserve its role as a facilitator of continental dialogue in line with the principle of non-interference.
Beyond the institutional proposal itself, the controversy underscores a deeper divide within contemporary Pan-Africanism, pitting a state-centric approach anchored in sovereignty and existing institutions against a vision advocating stronger supranational mechanisms for the protection of individual rights.
ARD/Sf/lb/as/APA