By Bronwen Manby and Clement Bernardo Mubanga<\/p>\n
Statelessness and Citizenship Review<\/i>, 2<\/i>(1), 172\u2013178<\/p>\n
Introduction<\/p>\n
Robert John Penessis v United Republic of Tanzania (Judgement) (\u2018Penessis\u2019) is the second case decided by the African Court on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights (\u2018African Court\u2019) that considers the right to a nationality. The judgment builds on the African Court\u2019s decision in Anudo Ochieng Anudo v Tanzania (\u2018Anudo\u2019), as well as the existing jurisprudence from the African Commission on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights (\u2018African Commission\u2019), and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The African Court ruled that Tanzania had arbitrarily deprived the applicant of his nationality and curtailed his rights of\u00a0 liberty and freedom of movement.<\/p>\n
Tanzania was among the few African states that have made a declaration provided for\u00a0 under art 34(6) of the\u00a0 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights, which establishes the African Court\u2019s competence to directly receive petitions from individuals. The government has, however, since withdrawn this declaration.<\/p>\n
The African Court has jurisdiction to interpret any human rights obligations binding on the state, and in Penessis thus draws on the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights (\u2018African Charter\u2019), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (\u2018UDHR\u2019).<\/p>\n
The African Court affirmed that the UDHRis part of customary international law, in particular art 15 on the right to a nationality. The judgment cements the holding that where a person has been issued documents recognising nationality, the burden of proof is incumbent upon the State to prove that he was not a national. Finally, adding to the findings in Anudo, the African Court drew on African Commission jurisprudence to confirm that the protection of \u2018legal status\u2019 in art 5 of the African Charter includes the right to a nationality.<\/p>\n