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15 Afr. J. Int'l & Comp. L. 138 (2007)
The Proposed Integration of the African Court of Justice and the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights: Legal Difficulties and Merits

handle is hein.journals/afjincol15 and id is 142 raw text is: THE PROPOSED INTEGRATION OF THE AFRICAN COURT OF JUSTICE AND THE AFRICAN COURT OF HUMAN AND PEOPLES' RIGHTS: LEGAL DIFFICULTIES AND MERITS KITHURE KINDIKI* I. INTRODUCTION Through a decision of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government (Assembly) meeting in Addis Ababa between 6 and 8 July 2004, the African Union (the AU or Union) decided that the hitherto separate courts with continental jurisdiction - the African Court of Justice and the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights - should be integrated into one court.' The decision was based on the need to rationalise the two courts and to make them cost effec- tive.2 The Assembly further directed the Chairperson of the AU Commission (or Secretariat) to work out the modalities of implementing the decision.3 Although the Assembly later decided that the operationalisation of the human rights court should go ahead notwithstanding4 - and in this connection went ahead to appoint judges for the Court - the issue of the integration is still being worked out. The aim of this contribution is two-fold, namely, to highlight the difficulties involved in the integration of the two courts proposing the possible solutions; and to highlight the merits of such integration. II. BACKGROUND The institutional structure obtaining from the 1963 Organizsation of African Unity (OAU) Charter did not provide for any judicial body. It instead left the interpretation of documents and the resolution of disputes to political leaders and entities. Some scholars have found explanations for this supposedly African * Ph.D (Pretoria); Senior Lecturer & Head, Public Law Department, University of Nairobi, Kenya; Email: kkindiki@yahoo.co.uk>. I am indebted Frank Njenga, Senior Legal Consultant for the African Union and Professor of Law at Moi University for sharing with me his insights on this topic. However, responsibility for all shortcomings remains solely mine I See Decisions of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government, Third Summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 6-8 July 2004; document Assembly/AU/Dec.45 (1Il); available online at <www.africa-union.org/> (accessed on 16 February 2007). 2 See Para 2 of the Decision. 3 Ibid. 4 The judges were appointed by the AU Summit held in Khartoum, Sudan between January 22-24, 2006; see Decisions of the Summit of Heads of State & Government, Decision on Election of Judges to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (Assembly/AU/Dec. 101 (VI) acces- sible at www.africa-union.org (accessed on 16 February 2007). 15 RADIC (2007)

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