First Session of the Special Technical Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs of the African Union concluded with concrete recommendations on way forward

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, May 19, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Meeting of Special Technical Committee (STC) on Justice and Legal Affairs (Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General, Ministers responsible for Issues such as Human Rights, Constitutionalism and Rule of Law) which was organized by the Office of the Legal Counsel of the African Union Commission concluded on 16 May 2014 at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The ministerial Session of the STC on Justice and Legal affairs considered and adopted seven (7) draft legal instruments and recommended them for consideration by the Assembly through the Executive Council at the forthcoming Summit of the African Union to be held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, in June 2014. The meeting adopted the following Draft Legal Instruments:

i) Draft African Union Convention on Cross-border Cooperation (Niamey Convention);

ii) Draft African Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralization, Local Governance and Local Development;

iii) Draft Protocol and Statute on the Establishment of the African Monetary Fund;

iv) Draft African Union Convention on Cyberspace Security and Protection of Personal Data;

v) Draft Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights;

vi) Draft Protocol to the Constitutive Act of the African Union on the Pan-African Parliament;

vii) Draft Rules of Procedure of the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Justice and Legal Affairs.

In closing remarks, the Chairperson of the meeting, Prof. FOGUI Jean Pierre, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Justice/ Attorney General of the Republic of Cameroon thanked the Ministers and Delegates, the Government Legal Experts, the Legal Counsel, the staff of the Office of the Legal Counsel, representatives of various departments of the Commission and all who contributed to the successful completion of the deliberation.