The Ministers of justice and Attorneys General from the AU members states met in Addis Ababa on 15 and 16th May to consider among other instruments, the Draft Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights that seeks to expand the jurisdiction of the African Court to include criminal jurisdiction similar to the International Criminal Court.
The Session considered and adopted seven (7) draft legal instruments and recommended them for consideration by the Assembly through the Executive Council at the forthcoming Summit of the African Union to be held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, in June 2014.
The seven drafts that were adopted were:
•Draft African Union Convention on Cross-border Cooperation (Niamey Convention);
•Draft African Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralization, Local Governance and Local Development;
•Draft Protocol and Statute on the Establishment of the African Monetary Fund;
•Draft African Union Convention on Cyberspace Security and Protection of Personal Data;
•Draft Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights;
•Draft Protocol to the Constitutive Act of the African Union on the Pan-African Parliament;
•Draft Rules of Procedure of the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Justice and Legal Affairs.
If the Draft Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights is adopted, the Court will have jurisdiction over genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Prior to the meeting, Civil Society organizations had raised the red flag over a proposal in the Draft Protocol that provides immunity for the heads of state and senior government officials from prosecution terming the move as a setback to attain justice for victims for grave crimes.