Human rights: Lawyer Moussa Sarr advocates "dialogue between judges" to overcome state resistance

The Terrou-Bi Hotel in Dakar is hosting the opening of a major regional workshop on Thursday, July 9, 2026, dedicated to the application of international conventions and the implementation of decisions by national human rights bodies. Delivering the opening address to an audience of eminent magistrates, academics, and representatives of civil society, the Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals, Moussa Sarr, presented a frank assessment of state reluctance worldwide. Whether in Africa, Europe, or the Americas, the Minister noted that nations regularly invoke national sovereignty or constitutional primacy to obstruct the implementation of international rulings.

To illustrate this crisis of confidence, the Minister of Justice cited emblematic examples such as the restrictive case law of the Constitutional Courts of Russia and the Dominican Republic, as well as the low implementation rate documented by the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights. According to Moussa Sarr, this national resistance poses "a serious threat to the credibility of the international human rights protection architecture" by generating frustration among victims and eroding the rule of law. Refusing to allow Senegal to shirk this reality, he called for transforming these difficulties into a genuine lever for public accountability.

Faced with this legal compartmentalization, the minister vigorously defended the doctrine of "judicial dialogue," which he described as a practical necessity for building normative coherence through persuasion rather than coercion. He reiterated that national judges do not relinquish their sovereignty when incorporating regional or UN case law, but rather elevate their role to that of "advanced sentinels of international human rights protection." Since the effective enjoyment of fundamental rights depends on domestic laws and procedures, the national judicial system is the critical link in this chain of transmission.

This ambition is reflected in Senegal by a capacity-building program led by the Ministry's Directorate of Human Rights. Since 2024, this initiative has continued to equip legal practitioners, having already trained more than seventy judges from the country's six Courts of Appeal to international standards. Acknowledging the logistical support of Amnesty International Senegal and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Moussa Sarr concluded by expressing his hope that these two days of discussions would lead to operational recommendations capable of better aligning African legal systems with their treaty obligations.