东非共同体法院的管辖权扩张及司法意义--以审理个人案件为例

Jurisdictional Expansion and Judicial Significance of the Court of East African Community:a Case Study of Individual Cases

东非共同体法院作为维护东部非洲地区贸易公平的司法机构,为保护区域内私人投资者的合法权利营造了积极的营商环境。东非共同体法院借鉴欧洲联盟法院的做法,通过扩大解释的方法延伸对人权案件的管辖权,为个人提供了替代性的区域层面法律补救机制。这一法律程序不仅为国家责任的履行提供了司法机制,丰富了东非共同体法院在处理人权案件中衍生的判例法理,同时,多元化的法律参与主体也提高了东共体的司法自治性。个人无需举证利益受损且无需援引用尽东道国当地救济程序就可向东非共同体法院主张个人合法权利的做法,进一步体现了东共体落实以人为核心、以市场发展为导向的一体化精神,对吸引非洲大陆域外资本输入具有制度红利。但东共体在人权领域的管辖权扩张也造成了区域稀缺司法资源的过度倾斜,加剧了成员国因东非共同体法院司法干预而产生的主权敏感等问题,对未来东共体向政治联盟迈进形成阻碍。

The Court of East African Community(hereinafter refer as EACJ),as a judicial body to safeguard fair trade in the Eastern African region,has created a positive business environment to protect the legitimate rights of private investors.EACJ has learned from the practice of the Court of Justice of the European Union to extend its jurisdiction in human rights cases with an expansive interpretation,providing individuals with an alternative legal remedy mechanism in regional level.This legal process not only provides a private monitoring mechanism for the discharge of states’responsibility but also enriches the different types and subjects of cases heard by EACJ.The fact that an individual can claim his or her legal rights to EACJ without having to prove that his or her interests are impaired and without invoking the exhaustion of local remedy procedures in the host country further reflects the integration spirit of East African Community which is people-oriented and market-oriented.However,the expansion of EACJ’s jurisdiction in the field of human rights resulted in the excessive tilt of regional scarce judicial resources to the field of human rights,aggravated the sovereignty sensitive issues caused by judicial intervention between East African Community and member states,and exerted negative obstacles to the realization of the political union with the highest degree of economic integration.