Constructing African Union Law and Rethinking Supranationalism in African Integration: What Lessons from the European Union?

Abstract

This Article examines the development and scope of African Union (AU) law and its role as a facilitator of and contributor to regional integration in Africa. The Article addresses several interlinked questions relating, but not limited, to the sources and foundations of AU law, the role of AU policy organs in the making of AU law, the extent to which EU law presents a comparative framework or useful precedent for analysing and understanding AU law, and the role of supranationalism in the economic and political integration of its member states and in the development of AU law. The Article argues that it is necessary to amend the AU Constitutive Act and other relevant AU legal instruments to enhance the supranational authority and legislative powers of the AU. It concludes that AU supranationalism needs to be rethought, but it need not uncritically mimic the EU’s approach to supranationalism in every respect.