Report: Implications of the AU Decision to Give the African Court Jurisdiction Over International Crimes

Max du Plessis has written a recent paper (ISS Paper 235) on
'Implications of the AU Decision to Give the African Court Jurisdiction
Over International Crimes'.  It is available here.

The
paper considers the decision by the African Union  (AU) to expand the
jurisdiction of the African Court of  Justice and Human Rights to act as
an international criminal court with jurisdiction over the
international crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against
humanity, as well as several transnational crimes. At an AU meeting from
14–15 May 2012 a draft protocol to effect that expansion was approved
and has been recommended to the AU Assembly for adoption.

The
short time frame which the AU has provided for the  complex task of
drafting the protocol occurs against the backdrop of the fractured
relationship between the AU and  the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The process of expanding the African Court’s jurisdiction is fraught
with  complexities and has implications on an international, regional
and domestic level. All these implications need to be considered,
particularly the impact on domestic laws and obligations, and the
relationship between African states parties to the Rome Statute of the
ICC, the ICC itself and the African Court.