Home | Databases | WorldLII | Search | Feedback Edited Legal Collections Data

de Wet, Erika --- "The rise and demise of the ICC relationship with African states and the AU" [2019] ELECD 2561; in Ciampi, Annalisa (ed), "History and International Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 191

Book Title: History and International Law

Editor(s): Ciampi, Annalisa

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 8

Section Title: The rise and demise of the ICC relationship with African states and the AU

Author(s): de Wet, Erika

Number of pages: 22

Abstract/Description:

The chapter traces the tenuous relationship between the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the member states of the African Union. Subsequent to the adoption of the ICC Statute in 1998, thirty-four African states initially joined the ICC. However, what started out as a positive relationship generating several self-referrals, deteriorated visibly as of 2009. The chapter outlines and assesses some of the key developments that arguably contributed to this downward spiral. In so doing, it suggests that an inconsistent referral policy by the United Nations Security Council, ill-conceived prosecutorial policies on the part of ICC Prosecutor, as well as inadequate oversight by the Assembly of State Parties, played into the hands of some African leaders who personally had much to gain from weakening the credibility of the institution on the continent. It also suggests stronger regional ownership of international criminal prosecution as a way to improve the relationship.