The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance: Opportunities or Dilemmas for Democratisation in Africa? (original) (raw)

Introduction: The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance at 10

Journal of African Law, 2019

On various continents, intergovernmental organizations resort to legal engineering in order to promote democratic governance in their member states. Those legal efforts operate in a fluctuating political and societal environment, which they seek to transform but which, in turn, shapes the authority, the effectiveness and even the very nature of the legal instruments. As this Special Issue shows, this process of mutual influencing between law and context as interdependent variables also applies to the African Union's (AU) landmark instrument for democratic governance promotion. Roughly one decade after the adoption of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG), fascinating developments, challenges and questions have emerged, some of which were arguably not anticipated by its drafters. For example, who envisaged that the ACDEG might become a justiciable instrument before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights? In the wake of popular uprisings in response to gross undemocratic practices, what normative guidance does the ACDEG offer in response to such developments?

The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance: Past, Present and Future

Journal of African Law, 2019

This article traces a genealogy of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) and examines the charter's overall implementation. While there has always been a struggle between competing views of how to ensure more or less continental accountability for norms related to democratic governance in Africa, enforcement by the African Union (AU) has definitively become more robust since the ACDEG's adoption. The article argues that this development is observable in three trends: continental legalization, technocratization and judicia-lization of politics. It evaluates the growth of normative commitments in the field of democracy, elections and governance and their increasing consolidation into binding legal treaties; explores the increasing reliance on AU technical assistance in the implementation and interpretation of these instruments; and assesses the expanding role of continental and regional judicial bodies in enforcing commitments to democracy. Building upon a better understanding of these trends, the article identifies key contextual factors that will shape the ACDEG's future implementation.

Features The implementation of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance

2015

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of Eastern Europe’s totalitarian regimes, a consensus seems to have emerged, worldwide, for the introduction of new standards into international standards, commonly called ‘democratic clauses’. The aim of these clauses is to promote the emergence of and contribute to the development of states based on respect for certain democratic principles in the world, particularly in Africa (OAU

Policy Brief the 10th Anniversary of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance

IOB Policy Brief, 2017

The Policy Brief is part of a broader initiative to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the African Charter on Democracy Elections and Governance (ACDEG). The specific results of this project include the publication of key peer-reviewed papers in two special issues of prestigious Africa focused journals: Africa Spectrum and the Journal of African Law. Based on these academic papers, a policy brief has been developed that synthesizes different policy relevant conclusions. A draft of this policy paper formed the basis of the discussions during a Practitioner Dialogue. With contributions from senior officials of the African Union, members of the African Diplomatic Community, African Diaspora Scholars and African NGOs, the Practitioner Dialogue provided space for a critical appraisal of the progresses, challenges and opportunities presented by the ACDEG and led to the development of critical policy recommendations that will support both the African Union and the Member States in adhering to the provisions of the ACDEG and in effect improving democracy, governance and human rights on the continent. This Policy Brief has since been formally presented to the Office of the Commissioner for Political Affairs of the African Union Commission and to the Office of the AU Ambassador to the European Union.

(2019) The 2007 African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance: Trying to Make Sense of the Late Ratification of the African Charter and Non-Implementation of Its Compliance Mechanism

Africa Spectrum, 2019

In principle, the 2007 African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) could be a powerful instrument to bring the African Governance Architecture to life and to help ensure that its universal values, including respect for human rights and the rule of law, are implemented across all African Union member states. Yet how serious in reality are the latter on this question? Ratification of the African Charter has taken five years and, as of late 2019, the implementation of its compliance mechanism is still pending. This article asks how these empirical puzzles can be best addressed. In the absence of robust data on member states' preferences and with a view to developing hypotheses for further research, this article inductively interrogates how data on the various regimes' political liberties may or may not relate to the ratification of the African Charter and the implementation of the ACDEG compliance mechanism.

Review: Special issue in Journal of African Law: The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance at 10

African Human Rights Law Journal

Journal of African Law has been in existence for over 60 years and has built a reputation as the authoritative academic source on legal issues pertaining to the African continent. It therefore is appropriate that it has chosen to dedicate a special issue on the implementation of arguably one of the most important international legal instruments in Africa: 'The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance at 10' (published as Journal of African Law, Volume 63, Supplement S1). A phenomenon that makes the special issue rich and diverse is that African democracy, elections and governance are dissected and discussed from different viewpoints. An additional significant feature of the special issue is that it is available in open access, making it accessible to a broad audience. The special issue presents an accessible resource even for readers with little prior knowledge of the subject.

Where Regional Norms Matter: Contestation and the Domestic Impact of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance

Africa spectrum, 2019

Twelve years after the adoption of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, scholars and policymakers are still pondering whether the regional document has had any actual effect. Based on case studies from Madagascar and Burkina Faso, this article demonstrates the Charter's impact on political dynamics within both countries. By analysing contestations around the application of Article 25(4), which defines who is eligible to run in transitional elections, I show that various national and international actors (attempt to) use the Charter as a legal script to limit access to state power and restrict the electorate's voting choices. That these attempts are highly contentious is evidence of the Charter's effect. If it were seen as irrelevant, nobody would bother to contest it. I therefore suggest studying the effects of the Charter from a different analytical angle-that is, "bottom-up"-by focusing on the settings and places in which it is actually applied.

The Role of African Union Instruments in Regulating State Compliance with Human Rights Standards: A Case Study of the African Union Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance

In recent years, Africa has seen a new wave of democratization. There has been a substantive shift from unconstitutional rule through coups, military rule and authoritarian regimes to a more democratic rule that involves popular participation. Elections have served as a tool to institutionalize and entrench democracy in African states. However elections in several African countries have been marked by challenges including contestation of electoral results and post-election violence as witnessed in Kenya in 2007, Zimbabwe in 2008, and Ivory Coast in 2010. The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) adopted by the African Union (AU) in 2007 is intended to serve as a crucial framework to mitigate some of these challenges. In 2013, the AU suspended Egypt from all the activities of the organization in the aftermath of a coup in the country. In 2015, the AU declined to observe local and parliamentary and presidential elections in Burundi when a preliminary assessment by the African Union Commission (AUC) revealed that the country lacked a conducive environment to hold free, fair and credible elections. It is on this premise that this paper seeks to examine how the ACDEG promotes compliance of states to democratic principles as well as to Article 13 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) which provides for citizens’ free participation in their governance. The paper explores the impact of ratification of the African Democracy Charter on the democratization of African States. Furthermore, the paper expounds on the roles of the AU institutions in addressing violations of fundamental rights necessary for democracy. The paper proposes ways to increase compliance and ratification of the African democracy charter as well as identifies shortcomings of the charter.