International Law and Post-Colonial Reparations: Theorising African States’ Claims for Historical Injustice

This dissertation develops an original theoretical framework for post-colonial reparations claims by African states in international law, addressing the longstanding question of whether and how international law provides a legal basis for African states to claim reparations for historical injustices including slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, colonialism, and structural economic exploitation. The international law of reparations, while well-established in the context of modern state responsibility, has been resistant to post-colonial claims due to doctrines of inter-temporality, state succession, and lack of legal personality of historical victims. Drawing on reparations theory, critical race theory, the ILC's Articles on State Responsibility, the ICJ's jurisprudence on reparations, and the historical precedents of German reparations for the Herero genocide and British reparations to Mau Mau victims, this research develops an original post-colonial reparations framework that specifies the legal conditions, appropriate mechanisms, and evidentiary standards for viable African reparations claims. It fills a fundamental gap in the international law literature by providing the first legally operational theoretical framework for post-colonial reparations, moving the debate from political rhetoric to legal doctrine. Original contributions include the post-colonial reparations framework, a typology of actionable post-colonial harms, and a reparations claim assessment tool. The dissertation applies the framework to Nigeria's specific historical claims, developing illustrative legal arguments for Nigerian reparations claims arising from the transatlantic slave trade and British colonial economic extraction. Findings indicate that legally viable post-colonial reparations claims are theoretically constructable under reformed international law principles. Keywords: reparations, post-colonial, Africa, state responsibility, international law.