Reflecting on the Pan-African Parliament : Prospects and Challenges - Research

The year 2018 marks the 14th anniversary of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), which was established on 18 March 2004. The PAP is the legislative body of the African Union (AU) whose aim is to make and implement legislation on behalf of the AU. In June 2014, African Heads of States converged in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, and adopted the Malabo Protocol. The primary objective of this Protocol was to extend the jurisdiction of the yet-to-be established African Court of Justice and Human Rights (ACJHR) whose mandate will be to try crimes under international law and transnational crimes. Noticeably, to-date, the PAP has failed to deliver on its mandate. The two key questions posed in this article are the following: Why has the PAP failed to discharge its responsibility? Importantly, what are the future prospects of this institution? The article blames historical and current reasons for the failure. It then makes concrete proposals on the way forward.