Reimagining Criminal Justice Through the Lens of The African Union

Abstract

In 2014 the African Union (AU) and African states set in motion the establishment of African justice mechanisms for addressing international crimes including a new section of the African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples’ Rights, the International Criminal Law Section (ICLS). In this thesis it will be determined whether or not there is a need for this new regional criminal court and what role it might play in the international criminal justice system. It is clear that the existing system has a number of shortcomings particularly in the areas of: universal jurisdiction; accountability; complementarity; ownership; and immunity. There is also a wider question as to whether the original purposes of international criminal law (ICL) are being effectively fulfilled. In this thesis it is determined that the new regional court does not need to be a competitor court to the International Criminal Court (ICC) but can offer complementary jurisdiction to strengthen international criminal justice and develop ICL in the same manner that the ad hoc courts and ICC have done. It is also shown that the new court is a legitimate response, albeit with some weaknesses, to the inequalities of the international system and has the potential to create a forum through which African states can increase their ownership. The new court will have the ability to address many of the underlying crimes leading to conflicts thereby linking the judicial organ to the AU’s peace and security agenda. By placing the ICLS into the African Peace and Security Architecture, a more holistic understanding of the new court is achieved. This helps to erode the misconception that the initiative is pursued purely as an anti-ICC mechanism.