African Union and the Evolution of International Criminal Justice in Africa: Challenges, Controversies and Opportunities.

Rome Statute ◽

International Criminal ◽

Criminal Court ◽

African Union ◽

Post Cold War ◽

History Of

This chapter analyses the controversies surrounding the work of the African Union, the Security Council, and the International Criminal Court. It examines whether the legal justifications offered for the Security Council’s involvement in matters of international criminal justice, as administered by the ICC, match the emerging practice. The chapter reviews the drafting history of the Rome Statute to identify the initial benchmark against which to assess the Chapter VII referral and deferral resolutions and their impacts, if any, on the world’s only permanent international penal tribunal. The chapter situates the ICC within a new post-Cold War global paradigm that is not only concerned with ensuring the collective peace, which is the classical responsibility of the UN, but also ensures that international criminal justice is meted out to at least some of the leaders who foment the world’s worst atrocities.

Substituting International Criminal Justice for an African Criminal Justice?

International Organizations Law Review ◽

10.1163/15723747-01402003 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 291-320 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Konstantinos D Magliveras

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

Rome Statute ◽

International Criminal ◽

Criminal Court ◽

International Criminal Law ◽

Added Value ◽

African Union ◽

Court Of Justice ◽

The One

This article examines the reasons and the grounds behind the antiparathesis between the African Union and several of its Member States, on the one hand, and international criminal justice and the International Criminal Court (‘icc’), on the other hand. It also examines the consequences of and responses to this antiparathesis, including the creation of an International Criminal Law Section to the African Court of Justice and Human Rights and questions whether it offers any added value. The article concludes with suggesting the setting up of icc regional/circuit chambers, each dealing with a specific continent/region, as a means to restructure the icc, to make it more relevant to its users, namely the contracting parties to the Rome Statute, and to allay fears of politically motivated prosecutions.

“Rounding Up the Usual Suspects”: Exclusion, Selectivity, and Impunity in the Enforcement of International Criminal Justice and the African Union’s Emerging Resistance

African Journal of Legal Studies ◽

10.1163/170873811x567970 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 51-84 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Ifeonu Eberechi

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

International Criminal ◽

Criminal Court ◽

International Justice ◽

African Union ◽

The West ◽

Regime Complex

AbstractDespite the overwhelming ratification of the statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) by African states, recent attempts to prosecute the perpetrators of egregious crimes in the region have come under a sustained opposition from its regional body, the African Union (AU). In fact, the blunt accusation is that international criminal justice has become an instrument of colonization. Within the context of the AU’s claim, this article engages the question of selective enforcement of international criminal accountability, ironically beginning with the Nuremberg trial. Without necessarily justifying the senseless perpetration of heinous crimes in Africa, this article argues that an international justice regime complex that is perceived to be skewed in favour of the West engenders a crisis of legitimacy and ultimately robs it of the much needed cooperation from the region.

Analysing the Future of International Criminal Justice in Africa: A Focus on the ICC

Strathmore Law Review ◽

10.52907/slr.v1i1.86 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 99-122

Author(s):

Emily Ngolo

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

Law Enforcement ◽

International Criminal ◽

Criminal Court ◽

African Union ◽

The Future ◽

Enforcement Mechanisms

The International Criminal Court has generally a bad reputation in the African continent as a whole with hostile assertions by the African Union, that the court is nothing but a political tool for the powerful. The Court, plagued with numerous difficulties, has come under pressure to perform, with some doubting its viability. Created by the Rome Statute, and the parties therein governed by general treaty law, enforcement mechanisms of the court have been unsatisfactory at best and this has led to questions being asked as to its survival. There exists a pool of divergent views, in regard to the African Union and the International Criminal Court, in many of the crucial areas of international criminal justice. This paper seeks to find out just how true is the claim that the ICC is ‘dead’ is, and the implications of this in the future of the continent as regards international criminal justice. How important is it for us to preserve international criminal justice? Just how much of a role do states play in this revered area of law? Is its legal viability coming to an unfortunate premature end? What does this mean, then, for the victims of mass atrocities? This paper seeks to show an interplay of the role of states and politics in international criminal justice, and determine then, whether there exists any bright future for this area of law in Africa.

The Habré Trial and the Malabo Protocol

The President on Trial ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198858621.003.0030 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 231-240

Author(s):

Ndeye Amy Ndiaye

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

Criminal Justice System ◽

International Criminal ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Criminal Court ◽

African Union ◽

Arrest Warrant ◽

Progressive Development

This chapter situates the Extraordinary African Chambers (EAC) among wider Senegalese and African justice initiatives, examining the EAC as a re-appropriation of international criminal justice by African actors. It is obvious that the trial of Hissène Habré took place in the context of conflictual relations between Africa and the International Criminal Court (ICC). Since the arrest warrant issued for Omar Al Bashir, relations between the ICC and the states forming the African Union (AU) went steadily downhill, to such an extent that the AU came to envisage creating a criminal section within the institution. What people appear to be increasingly witnessing is the determination to regionalize African criminal justice, as may be concluded from the recent adoption of the Malabo Protocol and the call to withdraw from the ICC. The chapter then looks at the dynamics of an emerging regional criminal justice system across Africa. It is important to note that the innovative aspect of the Habré trial that has had the most positive impact was its demonstration of an African determination first to fight against impunity, and second to participate in the progressive development of international criminal justice.

Corporations before International Criminal Courts: Implications for the International Criminal Justice Project

Leiden Journal of International Law ◽

10.1017/s0922156516000650 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 221-240 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

JOANNA KYRIAKAKIS

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

International Law ◽

Criminal Law ◽

Global Justice ◽

International Criminal ◽

Criminal Court ◽

International Criminal Law ◽

African Union ◽

Criminal Courts

AbstractThe debate over whether the International Criminal Court should have jurisdiction over corporations has persisted over the years, despite the failure of the legal persons proposals at Rome. For its part, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon determined that it has jurisdiction over corporations for the purpose of crimes against the administration of the Tribunal, albeit not for the substantive crimes over which it adjudicates. Most recently, the African Union has adopted a Protocol that, should it come into operation, would create a new international criminal law section of the African Court of Justice and Human and People's Rights with jurisdiction over corporations committing or complicit in serious crimes impacting Africa. In light of the enduring nature of the proposal that international criminal institutions should directly engage with the problem of commercial corporations implicated in atrocity, this article explores the possible implications for the international criminal justice project were its institutions empowered to address corporate defendants and prosecutors emboldened to pursue cases against them. Drawing on the expressive goals of international criminal justice and concepts of sociological legitimacy, as well as insights from Third World Approaches to International Law, the article suggests that corporate prosecutions, where appropriate, may have a redeeming effect upon the esteem in which some constituent audiences hold international criminal law, as a system of global justice. The article's thesis is then qualified by cautionary thoughts on the redemptive potential of corporate prosecutions.

Contemporary Challenges in Relation to the Prosecution of Senior State Officials before the International Criminal Court

International Criminal Law Review ◽

10.1163/15718123-01501001 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 76-100 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Patricia Hobbs

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

International Criminal ◽

Criminal Court ◽

African Union ◽

The Status ◽

Additional Support

The International Criminal Court (icc) proceedings against Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta have been hindered by a series of arguments and counterarguments aiming either to avoid prosecution altogether or, at best, to cause significant delays. Moreover, the African Union (au) has repeatedly provided additional support to Kenya’s standpoint, furthering the interests of the region over international criminal justice. Following Kenya’s legitimate efforts to retain the jurisdiction over the crimes that took place in 2007–2008, the status of the defendants became an obstacle to effective prosecutions, giving rise to further areas of dispute, namely immunity, trial attendance and a general uncooperative attitude towards Prosecution requests, leaving the icc virtually unable to proceed. This article highlights the current problems encountered by the icc in relation to the Kenya situation, and argues that a stronger collaboration with the African Union (au) is vital for the icc effectiveness in that region.

Hybrid Justice and the Rights of the Defence

The President on Trial ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198858621.003.0032 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 251-264

Author(s):

Dov Jacobs

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

International Criminal ◽

Fair Trial ◽

Presumption Of Innocence ◽

African Union ◽

Legal Challenges ◽

The Right ◽

Institutional Representation

This chapter examines generally the issue of the position of the Defence in hybrid tribunals, more particularly at the Extraordinary African Chambers (EAC) before proposing those reflections on the role of the Defence within the international criminal justice project. When it comes to the EAC, it should be noted that the initial agreement and Statute of the Chambers signed in 2012 did not include any specific provision relating to an institutional representation of the Defence within the institution. However, in 2014, an addendum to the initial agreement was signed between Senegal and the African Union (AU) in order to create a Defence office within the EAC. The ambition of this addendum was clearly to promote the respect for the rights of the Defence at the African Chambers, as noted in the Preamble to the addendum, where the right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence are reaffirmed as fundamental principles. The chapter then looks at the legal challenges faced by the Defence during the Hissène Habré trial and how they were dealt with by the Trial and Appeals Chamber.