The Scope and Application of Universal Jurisdiction: A Synopsis of African States’ Positions and Proposals During Plenary Sessions in the Sixth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly

Abstract

Universal jurisdiction has the potential to close the impunity gap for the perpetrators of atrocity crimes around the world. Such potential has reached both its zenith and nadir points as the international community continues to seek ways of balancing victims’ demand for accountability and the importance of safeguarding the fundamental principles governing the international politico-legal system. This chapter analyses the submissions and contributions of African states during debates within the United Nations General Assembly’s Sixth Committee on the scope and application of universal jurisdiction. African states, through the African Group, were responsible for putting universal jurisdiction onto the General Assembly. The chapter established that the traumatic history of imperialism and colonial rule continues to influence African diplomacy and its approach to international relations. It argues that by raising the issue of universal jurisdiction at the level of the United Nations General Assembly, the African Group demonstrated that it is continuously seeking to recover and assert its voice lost during colonization, and that it is committed to multilateral dialogue based on sovereign equality, and legal positivism as a means of shaping and developing international law. The majority of African States consider themselves to be vulnerable to the arbitrary application of universal jurisdiction, hence the push for proper definitions of both its scope and application. Their concern is that in its current form its application could lead to disastrous consequences for international relations.