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Background to the African Human Rights Law Journal

Welcome to the website of the African Human Rights Law Journal (AHRLJ), a leading peer-reviewed journal focused on human rights related topics of relevance to Africa, Africans and scholars of Africa. As democratic practices and the protection of human rights struggle to become rooted in Africa, the Journal aims to contribute towards strengthening indigenous African scholarship.

The first issue of the AHRLJ appeared in 2001. Since then, the Journal has appeared twice a year, in July and December, without interruption. 

The full text of the AHRLJ is made freely available online immediately upon publication. The AHRLJ is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).  

The copyright of articles are retained by the author(s), without restriction; and the author(s) also retain publishing rights.

The Journal does not have any submission or article processing charges.

The AHRLJ is published by the Pretoria University Law Press (PULP) which took over from Juta as publisher in 2013. It is published in association with the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria.

The AHRLJ still publishes a small amount of printed copies for each volume, which are sent out to the required Legal Depository addresses as per the Legal Deposit Act, Act 54 of 1997.  All journal content, dating back to the first issue of 2001, is available and will be maintained on the Journal’s web site (www.ahrlj.up.ac.za).  Earlier issues of the Journal are also availabel from JUTA Publisher (https://juta.co.za/catalogue/african-human-rights-law-journal-2000-2012-online_22320/).

The Journal is published only in English.

Feedback and criticism:  Any suggestions for improving any aspect of the Journal, including its content and editorial approach, are welcomed, and should be submitted at any time to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Management of the African Human Rights Law Journal

Editors

Editor-in-chief

Frans Viljoen
Professor of Human Rights Law and Director, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Associate editors

Solomon Ebobrah
Professor and Dean, Faculty of Law, Niger Delta University, Nigeria

Magnus Killander
Professor of Human Rights Law, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria

Annelize Nienaber
Professor and Head: Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria

Usang Maria Assim
Senior Researcher, Children’s Rights Project, Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law, Governance and Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape

Publication Manager

Isabeau de Meyer
Programme Manager, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria

International editorial advisory board

The Journal has an editorial board consisting of recognized experts in the field. As at 1 January 2020, the followings were members of the Board:

Jean Allain; Professor of International Law, Faculty of Law, Monash University, Australia
Fareda Banda; Professor in the Laws of Africa, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Gina Bekker; Teaching Associate, Monash University, Australia
Victor Dankwa; Professor of Law, University of Ghana
John Dugard; Extraordinary Professor, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
Christof Heyns; Professor of International Human Rights Law and Director: Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa, University of Pretoria
Edward Kwakwa; Legal Counsel, World Intellectual Property Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland
Sandy Liebenberg; HF Oppenheimer Chair in Human Rights Law, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
Tiyanjana Maluwa; Professor of Law, Dickinson School of Law, Pennsylvania State University, USA
Joe Oloka-Onyango; Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, Makerere University, Uganda
Kate O'Regan;  Director of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, University of Oxford; Former Justice, Constitutional Court of South Africa
Fatsah Ouguergouz; Former Judge, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights
Michael Reisman; Myres S McDougal Professor of International Law, Yale Law School, USA
Geraldine van Bueren; Professor of International Human Rights Law at Queen Mary, University of London

Abstracting and indexing articles from the African Human Rights Law Journal

The African Human Rights Law Journal may be found in the following databases: