ABSTRACT
Lastly, some noncitizens may seek protections from regional human rights bodies, which operate under their own respective multilateral treaties. For example, the European Court of Human Rights accepts applications directly from individuals alleging violation of their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. Th e Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which interprets and applies the American Convention on Human Rights, permits individual applicants, though only once a complaint has been deemed admissible by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Th e African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights, which interprets the African [Banjul] Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights ( 1986 ), 7 has jurisdiction over complaints brought against States that have ratifi ed the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Ratifying States, however, may choose whether individual complainants have direct access to the Court.
