Furthering justice or promoting impunity? A critical analysis of the propesed criminal jurisdiction in the African court of justice and human rights

Abstract

The African Union (AU) was set up in the year 2000 by the Constitutive Act of the African Union (Constitutive Act). Part of AU’s objectives for its creation includes; the promotion of peace, security and stability on the continent as well as the protection and promotion of human and peoples’ rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR).2 As part of fulfilling this objective, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACtHPR) was established3 with a wide human rights protective mandate which allows it to determine cases and disputes concerning the interpretation and application of the ACHPR and other international human rights instruments.4