Charter system which voluntarily confer contentious jurisdiction to the Commission. 2.2 Contentious jurisdiction of the African Commissi\)n under the Maputo Protocol a. Explicit jurisdiction 51. From the foregoing, the Commission must now examine how the Protocol establishes jurisdiction for the processing of Complaints. The pertinent Articles of this Protocol indicate the following: Article 27. Interpretation The African Court on Humanand Peoples' Rights shall be seized with matters of interpretation ansmg from the application and implementation of this Protocol Article 32. Transitional Provision Pending the establishment of the African :c ourt on Human and Peoples' Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights shall be seized with matters of interpretation arising from the application and implementation of this Protocol. 52. As such, the African Court and Commission are charged with interpreting and applying the Protocol. Generally, the ordinary meaning of the term 'interpretation' refers to the 'action of explaining the meaning of something' 15 . Treaty interpretation specifically, relates to the process of clarifying the m~aning of a legal text and has also been interpreted by the former Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) as relating to the 'construction' of the 'scope' and'bearing' of a specific provision and its terms16 • As such, the above provisions grant the African Court and Commission the authority to interpret (" clarify'1 , "give meaning to") the provisions of the Maputo Protocol. 53. The Commission considers also that the above articles authorize the exercise of this interpretiye mandate during consideration of Communications. The Articles enjoin the seizure of "matters of interpretation arising from the application and implementation of the Protocol". These "matters" necessarily include Communications as can be deduced from the shared functions of the Court and Commission in this respect as well, the wording of similar provisions in other international human rights instruments. For instance, the American Convention on the contentious jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court provides that it "shall comprise all cases concerning the interpretation and application of the .. . Convention that are submitted to it ... " 17 whilELl.h_e .-:-·---. European Convention provides that "the jurisdiction of the Court sµjI!J,;e-xt~hff~---, , ,. ;,.,..,_, .,,1ccRET.~'i' -'11,--.;: //.:..l· I.qt ffi ,· // uo - 15 https :ljwww. lexico.com/en/definition/inte1·p retation ~ 8 \'9 16 Tunis and Morocco Nationality Decrees (Advisory Opinion) PCIJ Rep Series B No 4 (1923), 2" ~ \ A U-UA 17 Article 32 European Convention. . ~ <; o-<> tM~', ·1 f 1 o"° . "-b4 -'O,i., , ;. ~ 0i !J / ' 0 QQ;- -'I re,"> ~ ICA iN\c. O '<,", ~''Ee n rtll;_s~ '<'"~ "....::=::::::c,=-;::;;r ;;; 1 _•