Professor Rachel Murray presents on Model Law at the Pan-African Parliament

Members of the audience within the African Court, attending the first compliance hearing of the Ogiek case held on 12 November 2024.

Observers at the African Court, attending the first compliance hearing of the Ogiek case, held on 12 November 2024.AFRICAN COURT

Press release issued: 21 November 2024

The Law School’s Professor Rachel Murray was invited to speak at the Justice and Human Rights Committee of the Pan-African Parliament on 6 November 2024, presenting on the development of a Model Law on the implementation of African human rights bodies' decisions.

Professor Rachel Murray, Professor of International Human Rights and Director of the University of Bristol Law School’s Human Rights Implementation Centre, has been working with the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria and the Pan-African Parliament on the development of a Model Law on Implementation of Decisions of African Human Rights Bodies.

This arises out of an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project examining how states implement decisions of human rights bodies, for which Professor Murray, who led the project, was awarded the ESRC Outstanding International Impact Prize.

Professor Murray presented a policy framework and draft outline of the Model Law before the Justice and Human Rights Committee of the Pan-African Parliament. The Model Law addresses the challenge that states face when the legal status of an international decision at the national level is unclear.

A Model Law can provide state authorities with examples of how they may adapt national legislation to, for example, enable compensation to be paid to individuals for violations they have suffered, or for investigations to be opened or legislation amended.

“Recommendations by Professor Murray and her colleagues have been incorporated into the African Court on Human and People’s Rights strategy for monitoring state responses. They helped address cases where reparations had not been implemented after rulings, with more than 60 judgements benefiting from this change. Post-ruling communication between the African Court and states has been enhanced to ensure that victims receive redress.

For example, an important judgement won redress for the Ogiek, an indigenous people whose ancestral lands fall within Kenya’s Mau Forest. Professor Murray and her colleagues’ briefing to the African Court included advice regarding how best to ensure redress for the Ogiek people. This was adopted in the court’s ruling against the Kenyan government, which awarded compensation of 157 million Kenyan Shilling (just over £1 million).” [From the ESRC prize article “Ensuring reparations for victims of human rights violations”]

Professor Murray, acting as amicus with Professor Frans Viljoen in the Ogiek case, was called before the Court at their first compliance hearing, held on 12 November, now adjourned until February 2025.

Further information

Professor Rachel Murray is Professor of International Human Rights Law at the University of Bristol and Director of its Human Rights Implementation Centre. She undertakes regular work on the African human rights system, implementation of human rights law, OPCAT and torture prevention, among other areas.

Rachel advises and works with national, regional and international organisations, including the African Commission and Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. She engages with governments, civil society organisations and individuals on human rights law and undertakes consultancies for regional and international organisations, including the UN and OSCE.

In 2023 Rachel won the ESRC’s Outstanding International Impact Prize for her research project ‘Collaborative working to redress human rights violations for African peoples.’

The Human Rights Implementation Centre (HRIC) at the University of Bristol Law School is a leading institution for the implementation of human rights, that works in collaboration with a number of organisations and bodies, including those in the United Nations, the African Union, the Council of Europe, as well as with governments and organisations at the national level.

Our LLM in Human Rights Law reflects an area of law that is critical in providing the frameworks necessary to protect the dignity of human beings around the world. It offers students an opportunity to graduate and meet a growing demand for specialist lawyers that have human rights experience and knowledge – and a determination to tackle human rights violations.