It is a well-known and non-controversial fact in the global Burundian opinion, that effective enforcement of judicial decisions suffers from multiple obstacles, legal as well as non-legal. In such a situation, effective access to courts of Justice, and broadly, to Justice at all, a fundamental right enshrined, among other legal instruments, in the Burundian Constitution, is seriously compromised. The European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice rightly held, in 2014 that "There is no real access to justice if court decisions are not enforced in order to produce the expected results", as well as it considers that "The right to proper administration of justice implies that the enforcement of court decisions should itself be effective and efficient". In the same vein, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights in Bissangou v Republic of Congo case, has stated that "the right to be heard guaranteed by article 7 of the African Charter includes the right to the execution of a judgment. It would therefore be inconceivable for this article to grant the right for an individual to bring an appeal before all the national courts in relation to any act violating the fundamental rights without guaranteeing the execution of judicial rulings. To interpret article 14 [of the ICCPR] any other way would lead to situations which are incompatible with the rule of law. As a result, the execution of a final judgment passed by a tribunal or legal court should be considered as an integral part of 'the right to be heard' which is protected by Article 7".Relaying on a legal approach with a particular focus on the diverse judicial civil decisions enforcement agents involved, this article attempts to examine, under the prism of completeness and coherence, the Burundian legal system relevant provisions, as scattered throughout various normative sources. One knows, indeed, that a complete and coherent legal system is a key tool for an effective and efficient court decisions enforcement, itself condition for a proper administration of justice. * Dr. Aimé-Parfait Niyonkuru (Dr.Iur) est professeur à temps plein attaché à la faculté de droit de l'Université du Burundi. Il exerce en même temps comme avocat, inscrit au Barreau près la Cour d'appel de Bujumbura.
From an institutional point of view, Burundi's state courts and tribunals have a monopoly on administering civil justice through binding decisions. This work examines from a legal and institutional perspective the extent to which the Burundian legal framework meets the requirements of international guarantees for the effectiveness of access rights to civil courts and tribunals. These guarantees are enshrined, inter alia, in Article 14.1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and in Articles 7.1.a) and 26 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. Beyond the strictly legal approach, the work analyses, from a socio-anthropological perspective, factors which in Burundi influence the effectiveness of the right of access to civil courts and tribunals beyond the quality of the legal infrastructure.
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