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From Reluctance to Acquiescence: The Evolving Attitude of African States Towards Judicial and Arbitral Settlement of Disputes*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 July 2015
Abstract
The attitude of African states towards judicial and arbitral settlement of disputes has substantially evolved since their accession to independence. The original reluctance to resort to the judicial settlement of disputes was due to a lack of trust in the system of ‘international law’ from which they were excluded prior to the UN Charter era and the rules of which were sometimes used to justify their colonization. There was also the issue of under-representation in international judicial or arbitral organs. That initial reluctance has more recently evolved into acquiescence at the universal level. Judicial institutions are also being established by the African states themselves.
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- HAGUE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNALS: International Court of Justice
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- Copyright
- Copyright © Foundation of the Leiden Journal of International Law 2015
Footnotes
*
This article is based on a speech delivered by the author at the UCL/Baker & McKenzie Fourth Annual Lecture, on 14 May 2014, at University College London.
References
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50 1996 Convention Régissant la Cour de Justice de la C.E.M.A.C., 05 July 1996, available at: <http://www.cemac.int/sites/default/files/documents/files/Convention_Cour_de_Justice.pdf> (accessed 5 May 2015).
51 1994 The Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Treaty, Art. 7.
52 1992 Treaty of The Southern African Development Community, Art. 9.
53 1999 Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community, Art. 9.
54 Organisation pour l'Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires (OHADA), see also Common Court of Justice and Arbitration.
55 2004 Protocol for the Establishment of the East African Community Customs Union.
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59 Ibid.
60 2009 Agreement for the Establishment of the African Legal Support Facility, available at <http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Legal-Documents/Agreement%20for%20the%20Establishment%20of%20the%20African%20Legal%20Support%20Facility%20%28ALSF%29.pdf> (accessed 5 May 2015); Decision on the Establishment of an African Institute of International Law in Arusha, The United Republic of Tanzania, Doc: Assembly/AU/14(XVIII) Add.5, 2012.
61 2013 Agreement Between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of Benin for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments.
62 2007 Investment Agreement for the COMESA Common Investment Area.
63 Ibid.
64 Ibid., Art. 1.
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69 2000 Constitutive Act of the African Union, Art. 5.
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