The African Union

Page 1 of 4

Filter category

Feature post image

Western Sahara before the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights:  Is there a “brother’s keeper” obligation for the Member States of the African Union?

October 13, 2022

In the current international context where States are ‘(re)discovering’ the virtue of international judicial litigation tools (before the ICJ or before the European Court of Human Rights), the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights was presented with a unique request against the backdrop of protecting the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people. The latter have been opposed to Morocco since 1975 in a frontal struggle claiming sovereignty over the Western Sahara (here). When, in 2016, Morocco asked to be readmitted to the African Union (AU), the question may have arisen as to the extent to which it would have been imperative to condition this admission by imposing respect for the self-determination of the Sahrawi people. In other words, would the “unconditioned” admission of Morocco in breach of the right to self-determination - a peremptory norm - be an internationally wrongful act that triggers AU States’ individual and collective responsibility? On 22 September 2022, the African Court issued its judgement on the matter and concluded unanimously that the Respondent…

Read more

Another One Bites the Dust: Côte d’Ivoire to End Individual and NGO Access to the African Court

May 19, 2020

On 29 April 2020, the government of Côte d’Ivoire issued a press statement announcing its decision to withdraw the right of individuals and NGOs to submit complaints directly to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (‘the Court’). This right was granted in 2013, when it deposited a special declaration with the Court in accordance…

Read more

‘Victim of its commitment … You, passerby, a tear to the proclaimed virtue’: Should the epitaph of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights be prepared?

May 5, 2020

In a letter dated 21 April, the Government of Benin informed the African Union of its decision to withdraw the declaration made under Article 34(6) of the Ouagadougou Protocol establishing the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. As the Court recalled in its first judgment, direct referral by an individual or an NGO is subject…

Read more

ICC Appeals Chamber Holds that Heads of State Have No Immunity Under Customary International Law Before International Tribunals

May 6, 2019

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has, this morning, issued what seems to be an extremely controversial decision on Head of State Immunity. At the time of writing, the full written judgment is not yet available in the appeal by Jordan against the decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber referring that state to the UN Security…

Read more

Looking for Middle Ground on the Immunity of Al-Bashir? Take the Third ‘Security Council Route’

October 23, 2018

On 10-14 September, the Appeals Chamber (AC) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) held hearings in the appeal of Jordan against the decision of Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) II entitled ‘Decision under article 87(7) of the Rome Statute on the non-compliance by Jordan with the request by the Court for the arrest and surrender o[f] Omar Al-Bashir’ of…

Read more