James T. Gathii is a Professor of Law and the Wing-Tat Lee Chair in International Law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law since July 2012. He is a graduate of the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and Harvard Law School. He sits on the board of editors of the American Journal of International Law, the Journal of African Law and the Journal of International Trade Law and Policy, and on the Advisory Board of the International Journal of Constitutional Law, among others. He is also a founding editor of afronomicslaw.org, the blog on International Economic Law Issues as they relate to Africa and the Global South.

• Introduction


• 1: James Gathii: International Courts as Coordination Devices for Opposition Parties: The Case of the East Court of Justice


• 2: Andrew Heinrich: Sub-Regional Courts as Transitional Justice Mechanisms: The Case of the East African Court of Justice in Burundi


• 3: Obiora C. Okafor and Okechukwu J. Effoduh: The ECOWAS Court as a (Promising) Resource for Pro-Poor Activist Forces: Sovereign Hurdles, Brainy Relays, and "Flipped Strategic Social Constructivism"


• 4: Olabisi Akinkugbe: Towards an Analysis of the Mega-Political Jurisprudence of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice


• 5: Solomon Eboborah and Victor Lando: African Sub-regional Courts as Back-Up Custodians of Constitutional Justice: Beyond the Compliance Question


• 6: James Gathii and Jacquelene Mwangi: The African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights as an Opportunity Structure


• 7: Karen Alter, James Gathii, and Laurence Helfer: Backlash Against International Courts in West, East and Southern Africa: Causes and Consequences


• 8: James Gathii and Harrison Otieno: Reference Guide to Africa's International Courts

This book argues that we must look beyond the traditional criteria of compliance and effectiveness to judge the performance of Africa's international courts. It demonstrates how these courts are important venues for activists and opposition parties to wage political, social, environmental, and legal struggles on the international stage.