African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples' Rights : prospects and challenges of prosecuting unconstitutional changes of government as an international crime

[摘要] In its latest attempt to curb the plight of unconstitutional changes of government in Africa,the African Union (AU) is in the process of empowering the African Court of Justice andHuman and Peoples' Rights (African Court) to prosecute perpetrators of unconstitutionalchanges of government in member states. This study considers the prospects andchallenges of such prosecution by the proposed African Court. The study first identifies thenormative and institutional framework developed by the Organisation of African Unity(OAU), and later the AU to address unconstitutional changes of government in thecontinent. It then analyses the AU's response to unconstitutional changes of government inmember states, taking Guinea, The Comoros, Niger, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya as casestudies. In doing so, it identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the AU's response to thechanges in these countries, including the capability of the AU's normative and institutionalframework to address all forms of unconstitutional changes in the region. Mostimportantly, the study addresses the challenges and prospects of prosecutingunconstitutional changes of government by the proposed African Court and whether theCourt would be able to overcome the short-comings identified in the case studies. It finallyconcludes and recommends based on the findings of the study.

[发布机构] University of Pretoria