Chafika Bensaoula is an Algerian jurist who was elected to the

African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, also known simply as the African Court, is an international court established by member states of the African Union (AU) to implement provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights ...

for a six-year term in 2017.

Early life and education

Bensaoula was born in Algeria and has a doctorate in

public law Public law is the part of law that governs relations between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that are of direct ...

Career

Bensaoula has been a judge of the Criminal Affair Chambers and Court of Appeal in Algeria. She is a lecturer at the National School of Magistracy in Algeria. She was Director of the Department of Legal Studies and Documentation at the Ministry of Justice. In April 2016, she was nominated for the

International Narcotics Control Board The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is an independent treaty body, one of the four treaty-mandated bodies under international drug control law (alongside the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, UNODC on behalf of the Secretary-General, an ...

. She is on the governing board of administrators for the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law. Bensaoula was elected to the African Court at the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...

meeting in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

in January 2017, alongside

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

Tujilane Chizumila Tujilane Rose Chizumila (born 14 May 1953) is a Malawian lawyer and jurist who was appointed to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights for a six-year term in 2017. Early life and education Chizumila was born on 14 May 1953 in Zomba, Mal ...

. The two were sworn in on 6 March, bringing the number of women on the court to five of eleven judges for the first time and fulfilling the

gender parity Gender parity is a statistical measure used to describe ratios between men and women, or boys and girls, in a given population. Gender parity may refer to the proportionate representation of men and women in a given group, also referred to as sex ...

requirement of the Protocol establishing the court.

Personal life

Bensaoula speaks

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bensaoula, Chafika Living people Women judges Algerian judges Judges of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Algerian judges of international courts and tribunals Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Algerian people