Fatsah Ouguergouz

Fatsah Ouguergouz (born 1958) is an Algerian judge born in France.

Judge and Vice-President of the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights (Arusha, Tanzania)

Childhood and education

He holds a PhD in international law from the Graduate Institute of International Studies (Geneva, Switzerland). ^[1]

Legal career

He has served as a judge of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (located in Arusha, Tanzania) since 2006 and as Vice-President of this court since September 2012. Elected initially in 2006 by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, he was re-elected in 2010 for a six-year mandate.^{[ citation needed ]}

He was Secretary of the International Court of Justice ^[2] and held the position of Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Burundi , appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (2010-2011).

Ouguergouz was elected a Titular Member (Membre titulaire) of the Institute of International Law ( Institut de Droit International ) at its 2025 Session in Rabat, Morocco. ^[3]

Positions

He has held several positions within or outside the United Nations system, such as:

• Legal Officer, International Court of Justice (The Hague)
• Human Rights Officer, United Nations, Rwanda
• Associate Legal Officer, United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, New York City
• Lecturer, University of Geneva Faculty of Law
• Father Robert F. Drinan S.J. Visiting Professor of Human Rights, Georgetown University (Washington D.C.)
• Visiting Professor, Panthéon-Assas University
• Orville Schell Fellow, Yale Law School (New Haven, Connecticut)
• Senior Lecturer, Office of Legal Affairs, United Nations (New York), Regional Course in International Law Human Rights and Movement of persons (Addis Ababa)
• Senior Lecturer, American Bar Association, Rule of Law Initiative (Washington D.C), Training of 60 Algerian Lawyers and Judges, Algiers and Oran (Algeria)
• Senior Lecturer, North African Litigation Initiative, Arabe Institute of Human Rights (Tunis) & Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (Cairo)
• Lecturer, Stetson University College of Law (Gulfport, Florida, USA), Summer Institute in International and Comparative Law, The Hague
• Lecturer, 34th Session of the External Programme of The Hague Academy of International Law, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)
• Lecturer, 29th, 30th and 40th Study Sessions of the International Institute of Human Rights (Strasbourg, France).- Lecturer, Study Session of the International Institute of Human Rights
• Secrétaire-rédacteur, Institute of International Law (from 1993 to 2003)
• Lecturer, Training Sessions of the Institut International d’Administration Publique and Ecole Nationale d’Administration (Paris) (1996/1999/2002)
• Moderator, «Introduction to the United Nations System», Online Course, UNITAR (Geneva), Module 5: «The Principal Organs of the United Nations: Focus on the International Court of Justice»
• Member, International Advisory Committee, Brandeis Institute for International Judges, International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, Brandeis University (Waltham, Massachusetts)
• Board Member, Institute of African Studies and Center for the Study of Human Rights (Banjul, The Gambia)

Books

• L’Union africaine: cadre juridique et institutionnel – Manuel sur l’Organisation panafricaine , (Co-Director with Judge Abdulqawi Yusuf), Editions Pedone, Paris, 2013, 471 pages
• The African Union: Legal and Institutional Framework - A Manual on the Pan-African Organization (Co-Director with Judge Abdulqawi Yusuf), Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden/Boston, 2012, 576 pages
• The African Charter on Human and People's Rights: a comprehensive agenda for human dignity and sustainable democracy in Africa , Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague/London/New York, 2003, 1016 pages
• La Charte Africaine des Droits de l'Homme et des Peuples: une approche juridique des droits de l'homme entre tradition et modernité, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1993, 479 pages

References

1. "Justice Fatsah Ouguergouz – Algeria". African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. 6 April 2020.
2. Center for International Law and Policy-New England School of Law
3. "Session of Rabat (2025)". Institute of International Law. 2025. Retrieved September 6, 2025.