Addis Ababa, 24 January 2018 - The Office of the Legal Counsel (OLC) represented the Commission in Meetings held in Mauritius from 6 to 12 January 2018 to discuss the AU submission before the International Court of Justice (ICJ )The AU delegation was led by the Legal Counsel Dr. Namira Negm and composed of Dr. Mohamed Gomaa, who is the Head of Arbitration in Hashem Law Firm which is one of the leading law firms for international law in Africa .

and Dr. Makane Moise Mbengue He is a professor of International Law at Geneva University Law School; and OLC.

The AU delegation had several meetings with the Mauritian Legal team and different government officials including H.E Pravind Jugnauth, the Prime Minister of Mauritius and . H.E Mr.Mentor and Minister of Defense , H.E Mr N.K. BALLAH, Secretary to Cabinet and Head of the Civil Service, Mr D.K. DABEE, GOSK, SC, Solicitor-General, H.E. Mr J.D. KOONJUL, GOSK, Permanent Representative of Mauritius to the UN, New York

Mr. S. SEEBALUCK, GOSK, Special Adviser to the Minister Mentor, Minister of Defence, Minister for Rodrigues, Ms S.C. YOUNG KIM FAT, Minister Counsellor, PMO.

It is to be recalled that the Assembly Resolution /AU/Res.1(XXVIII) adopted by the AU Summit held in July 2017 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, expressed its full support to the request of the Republic of Mauritius at the level of the United Nations General Assembly with the view to ensuring the completion of its decolonization.

The Commission, on 6 December 2017, sent a Note Verbal urging all Member States willing to furnish relevant information on the question before the ICJ to submit written statement to the Court by 30 January 2018 in support of the call for the full decolonization of the territory of the Republic of Mauritius.

Moreover, the Commission is currently engaged with International lawyers, in preparing its submission of a written statement in the advisory opinion.
Due to the constraints of time the AU submitted its request to extend the deadline of written submissions from 30 January 2018 to become 1 March 2018.

Media Contact:

Mrs. Esther Azaa Tankou| Head of Information Division | African Union Commission | Tel: +251 (0) 911361185 | E-mail: yamboue@africa-union.org |

Tefesehet Sime and Tsion Demissie, Office of the Legal Counsel

For further information:
Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I Website: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia