Public Lecture on "Constitution Building in the African Union: Law, Policy and Practice" by Micha Wiebusch, UNU-CRIS Associate Research Fellow, University of Antwerp

Micha Wiebusch, UNU-CRIS Associate Research Fellow, is delivering a public lecture on "Constitution Building in the African Union: Law, Policy and Practice", University of Antwerp, Faculty of Law on 8 March 2018 from 14.00 - 15.30.

The African Union (AU) is increasingly playing a greater role in the protection and promotion of constitutional rule in its member states. Under the protective mandate of constitutional rule should be understood the action taken by the AU in situations where there is a threat or an actual violation of the constitution of a member state. This can include individual infringements of human rights protected in the constitution, a systematic erosion of constitutional principles, or even a fundamental interruption of the constitutional order such as during a coup d’état. (See e.g. activities of African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Peace and Security Council). The promotional mandate refers to the different activities coordinated by the AU to ensure and advance governance according to the respective constitutions of its member states. These activities may include standard setting, awareness raising, constitutional governance monitoring, formulating recommendations to improve constitutional rule or actively assisting in ensuring government action in compliance with constitutional rules and principles. (See e.g. activities of African Peer Review Mechanism, state reporting obligations, election observation missions, human rights observers, AU model laws, etc.) The lecture considers the normative and institutional framework of the AU in fostering constitutional rule in Africa, as well as the policies developed to reach its objectives and the practice of their implementation.

Contact: Sustlaw@uantwerpen.be