The Emergent African Union Law: Conceptualization, Delimitation, and Application

Olufemi Amao · Michèle Olivier · Konstantinos D. Magliveras

Oct 2021 · Oxford University Press

About this ebook

This book is a groundbreaking study of the emergence of a unique African Union legal system, with contributions from a diverse collection of scholars and practitioners. It highlights how law stands at the heart of the successful regional integration effort in Africa and explores, among either issues, the extent to which African Union law is having an impact on domestic laws. This trend has been particularly noticeable in the area of human rights, the rule of law, democratic principles, and aspects of constitutional law. Furthermore, the book examines how the African Union is engendering new norms from its legal order, such as the non-indifference norm, the norm on unconstitutional change of government, free trade, free movement of people, economic regulation, and democratic constitutionalism. The book also analyses how the African Union legal order has led to the emergence of a continental-level judicial system. The quasi-judicial system put in place under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, and administered by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, is now complemented by the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. This book contends that the continental-level judicial system is playing a crucial role in the moulding of emergent norms.

About the author

Olufemi Amao is a Reader in Law at the Sussex Law School, University of Sussex. He is the author of 'African Union Law: The Emergence of a Sui Generis Legal Order' (Routledge, 2019) and 'Corporate Social Responsibility, Human Rights and the Law: Multinational Corporations in Developing Countries' (Routledge, 2011). He previously worked at Brunel University, London (2009-2015) and the University College Cork, Ireland (2008-2009). He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1999. He is the PI for the AHRC funded African Union Law Research project. (http://africanunionlaw.org/). Michèle Olivier is an Associate Professor and Programme Director of Law at the Dar Al-Hekma University, Jeddah. She was previously a Professor in International Law at the University of Pretoria and a Reader in the School of Law and Politics at the University of Hull. Before joining academia, she was the Principal State Law Adviser (International Law) for the Department of Foreign Affairs in South Africa. She holds a doctorate in law and a Masters degree in political science. She was one of eight members of the technical committee of constitutional experts responsible for the drafting of the South African Constitution (1993) and acted as a consultant to the African Peer Review Mechanism of the Africa Union assessing governance in a number of African states. Konstantinos D. Magliveras is a Professor in the Department of Mediterranean Studies at the University of the Aegean, where he has been teaching for the last 20 years. He previously worked in the University of Aberdeen and the University of East Anglia, and undertook post-doctoral research at Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam.