About the Journal

Welcome to the website of the African Human Rights Law Journal (AHRLJ), a leading peer-reviewed journal focused on human rights related topics of relevance to Africa, Africans and scholars of Africa. As democratic practices and the protection of human rights struggle to become rooted in Africa, the Journal aims to contribute towards strengthening indigenous African scholarship.

The first issue of the AHRLJ appeared in 2001. Since then, the Journal has appeared twice a year, in July and December, without interruption. 

The full text of the AHRLJ is made freely available online immediately upon publication. The AHRLJ is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).  

The copyright of articles are retained by the author(s), without restriction; and the author(s) also retain publishing rights.

The Journal does not have any submission or article processing charges.

The AHRLJ is published by the Pretoria University Law Press (PULP) which took over from Juta as publisher in 2013. It is published in association with the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria.

The AHRLJ still publishes a small amount of printed copies for each volume, which are sent out to the required Legal Depository addresses as per the Legal Deposit Act, Act 54 of 1997.  All journal content, dating back to the first issue of 2001, is available and will be maintained on the Journal’s web site (www.ahrlj.up.ac.za).  Earlier issues of the Journal are also availabel from JUTA Publisher (https://juta.co.za/catalogue/african-human-rights-law-journal-2000-2012-online_22320/).

The Journal is published only in English.

Feedback and criticism:  Any suggestions for improving any aspect of the Journal, including its content and editorial approach, are welcomed, and should be submitted at any time to: frans.viljoen@up.ac.za