The African Union Request for a Deferral of Investigation and Processes in Kenya Situation – Collision of Principles?

On the last day of its 16th Summit, held from January 24 – 31, 2011, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the African Union (AU) adopted Declaration number 334. Under Article 16 of the Rome Statute called for a deferral of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigations and prosecutions in relation to 2007-2008 post-election violence in Kenya. Calling upon Article 16, the African Union requested from the United Nations Security Council (U.N. SC) to act under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, suspend proceedings before the ICC and give its assent to the AU demand by supporting national reconciliation processes. Non-governmental sector qualified this AU action as counterproductive and paradoxical, especially since Kenya itself can challenge the ICC jurisdiction and instigate national proceedings under articles 17 and 19 of the ICC constitutional document. AU’s myopic request has been so far eschewed by the Security Council, yet the question of its legitimacy and legality remains...(more)...