THE MALABO PROTOCOL: AN ANALYSIS OF THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE MERGED AND EXPANDED AFRICAN COURT.

Abstract

On 27 June 2014, African Heads of States and Governments meeting in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, adopted a protocol on Amendments to the protocol on the statute of the ACJHR (known as ACJHPR Amendment). This amendment revises the (not yet in force) protocol on the statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights (the ACJHR Protocol) which was adopted in 2008 to merge the African Court on Human and Peoples rights with the proposed African Court of Justice. The court will have jurisdiction to try international crimes and could play a significant role in a continent afflicted withconstant conflicts and impunity.

               However, a number of concerns are raised with regard to the expansion of the African Court’s jurisdiction. Some of these concerns are the court’s ambitiousjurisdictional reach and its capacity to fulfill not only its newfound International Criminal obligations, but also the effect that this extra burden will have on the courts’ ability to deal with its general and Human Rights obligations.

               The paper calls on Civil Society Organizations and citizens to engage with their governments and the AU to address these concerns in order to make this court the most effective regional court. The paper also calls on member states to amend specific provisions of the protocol.