Article 3
1. Every individual shall be equal before the law.
2. Every individual shall be entitled to equal protection of the law.
The right to equality is fundamental to every human being and is provided for in numerous international, regional, and domestic human rights instruments.
In the African Charter, this right is couched in two separate clauses as reflected by sub-articles 1 and 2 of article 3.
On a plain reading, these provisions may appear to be synonymous, however, they have distinct meanings, which can best be understood from the jurisprudence of the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights (the African Court) and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission).
The African Commission, in Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa has held that equality before the law means that all persons in a State party shall be subject to the same laws and shall have the same rights under those laws. Additionally, the Commission then held that the right to equal protection of the law is a separate right that guarantees individuals the right to equal access to the Courts as well as equal access to procedural justice mechanisms, (such as in the enforcement of judgments).
The African Court has further held, in African Commission v. Kenya, that articles 2 and 3 are related, and as such complaints brought before the Commission or the court on either article 2 or 3 will usually feature both as grounds for the complaint.
