CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2010
| Author | Meles, Tewodros Alefe |
|---|---|
| Title | Power to the People: Right to Intervene of the Union to Restore Legitimate Order Under Article 4 (H) of the African Union Constitutive Act |
| Summary | The thesis examines right to democratic governance issues and especially investigates the realm of democracy installed by force by military intervention of the international community. Post-colonial African people have witnessed undemocratic governments come and go-mostly thanks to nature’s course. During the OAU’s regime of 38 years, will of the people have been forestalled countless times and “the club” did nothing, under the guise of sovereignty, to take measures against its members who failed to respect the will of the people. The wind which blew in the 1990’s, right to democratic governance & the sentiment that it is the people who are the true sovereign but not the illegitimate governments, crossed Africa in with the establishment of the AU. The amendment to the Constitutive Act in February 2003 came with “good” news to the staggering democracy: an amendment to principle 4 (h) to include legitimate order as one ground of intervention. The amendment to the AU Constitutive Act is the first international binding document to articulate intervention on the ground of threat to legitimate order and is a break through, at least normatively, in Africa’s bid to build democracy. Building on the claim that the right to democratic governance should attain international as well as regional legitimacy, if it already hasn’t, and for the violation of which should attract responsibility, the thesis argues that the international community of states should intervene militarily in blatant situations and if other mechanisms fail or are ineffective to ensure the right of citizens to democratic governance. The military intervention of the AU to defend and protect the will of the people when threatened is a legitimate cause that advances the whole tenet of the purpose of the UN Charter. Hence, the regional military intervention envisaged under the AU Constitutive Act does not abridge the elements in Article 2 (4), namely, territorial integrity, political independence, and purposes of the UN Charter. |
| Supervisor | Professor Istvan Pogany |
| Department | Legal Studies LLM |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2010/meles_tewodros.pdf |
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