The Arusha-based African Court for Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPRs) is set to elect a new President and Vice-President.

The polls will be held during the opening session of the Court’s 77th ordinary session, which starts on June 2, 2025, to June 27, 2025, in Arusha, a statement from ACHPRs said.

The new President will succeed Lady Justice Imani Daud Aboud of Tanzania and Justice Modibo Sacko of Mali, whose respective terms as President and Vice President are coming to an end.

Aboud was first elected as President of the Court in May 2021 and was re-elected in July 2023 for a final two-year term.

Aboud was first elected as Judge of the African Court in July 2028 and was re-elected for a second and final term of six years in February 2021.

Modibo was elected Judge of the African Court in February 2021, for a six-year term and was later elected as Vice President of the Court in July 2023 for a two-year term.

Apart from the elections of the new Bureau, the Court will also hold a joint retreat with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) to discuss complementarity between the two institutions today and tomorrow.

On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, the Court will hold a Public Hearing in the matter of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights vs the Republic of Kenya, (Application No.006/2012) commonly known as the Ogiek case;

On Thursday, May 29, 2025, the Court will deliver seven decisions adopted during its 76th and 77th Ordinary Sessions.

The public hearing and delivery of judgments will be open to members of the general public, either on-site at the seat of the Court in Arusha.

The ACHPR is a continental court established by African countries to ensure the protection of human and peoples’ rights in Africa. It complements and reinforces the functions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

The Court was established pursuant to Article 1 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, (the Protocol) which was adopted by the Member States of the then Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in June 1998.

The Protocol came into force on 25 January 2004.

The 34 States which have ratified the Protocol are: Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Libya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Nigeria, Niger, Rwanda, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, South Africa, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia.