African court appoints two more women judges

The newly appointed judges to the African Court on Human and People’s Rights, Justice Bensaoula Chafika from Algeria and Justice Chizumila Rose Tujilane from Malawi, were sworn in earlier this week at the seat of the African Court, in Arusha, Tanzania, at the 44th ordinary session of the court.

The two new judges were appointed recently at the 28th Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

They are expected to serve for a period of six years, and they are replacing Justice Fatsah Ouguergouz and Justice Duncan Tambala, whose term came to an end on September 5, 2016. Their appointment brings the number of female judges to five, on the 11-member court judges for the first time in the history of the court.

The increased number of female judges is considered as the fulfilment of the requirement for adequate gender representation provided for in Article 12 (2) and Article 14 (3) of the protocol establishing the court.