Article 46C of the Malabo Protocol: A Contextually Tailored Approach to Corporate Criminal Liability and Its Contours

Abstract

This article examines the corporate criminal liability provision of the Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights (Malabo Protocol), which is the first to grant an international or regional criminal court jurisdiction over corporations. It analyses the provision in light of the wide substantial jurisdiction of the future criminal law section of the African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples’ Rights, the complementarity provision, the modes of responsibility and demonstrates its strengths and weaknesses. It argues that the corporate criminal liability provision will particularly contribute to a regional quest for justice and accountability against corporate impunity, as it is contextually tailored but also well equipped to address corporate wrongdoing.