The 2nd session of the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Justice and Legal Affairs
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2nd November 2015: The meeting of legal experts of the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Justice and Legal Affairs commenced on 2nd November 2015 at the AUC Headquarters in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
The STC experts’ session will consider draft legal instruments in order to verify their legality for adoption by the policy organs of the Union. This second session is taking place as continuation within the framework of the operationalization of the Specialized Technical Committees of the African Union in accordance with various Decisions of the Policy Organs of the Union that took place in May 2014.

Addressing the opening, Prof. Vincent O. Nmehielle, the Legal Counsel and Director for Legal Affairs of the African Union Commission urged the delegates to reflect on ways to make the Union more functional by narrowing down discussions on issues such as the institutionalization of a Pan African Arbitration mechanism which should be designed to bring about an African imprint on alternative dispute resolution.

In the same vein he called upon delegates to put under consideration what can be done to establish a continental Court of Arbitration in Africa
“The continent currently lacks an active body for resolution of disputes which drives Member states to look to institutions outside the continent for the resolution of their arbitral disputes” reaffirmed Professor. Nmehielle.
Mr. Nkurayija Jean Marie Vianney, General Rapporteur, recalled some of the decisions and recommendations made by the members of the Bureau during the Bureau meeting in preparation for the Experts’ Meeting. Among other recommendations, he called upon the Office of the Legal Counsel to come up with a Guideline on legislative drafting within the AU.

The STCs, which are technical organs of the Union, were established under Article 25 of the African Economic Community Treaty (the Abuja Treaty). With the transformation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) into the African Union Commission (AUC), the STCs were carried over by the Constitutive Act of the African Union under Articles 14 to 16.

The government legal experts will examine draft legal instruments and prepare them for the Ministerial session expected to begin on 11 November 2015. The outcome of the STC meeting will be submitted to the forthcoming session of AU Policy Organs to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2016.
HBS/BM/AMT

For further information contact:
Mrs. Chinonyelum Esther Uwazie Tel: +251-11-5517700, E-mail: UwazieC@africa-union.org Legal Officer, Office of Legal Counsel | African Union Commission
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