The Constitutive Act of the African Union sets out the codified framework under which the African Union is to conduct itself. It was signed on 11 July 2000 at Lomé, Togo. It entered into force after two thirds of the 53 signatory states ratified the convention on 26 May 2001. When a state ratifies the Constitutive Act, it formally becomes a member of the AU. All 55 signatory states have ratified the document, with South Sudan and Morocco ratifying as the last African states.
>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
👉 Constitutive Act of the African Union in the context of Sirte Declaration
The Sirte Declaration was the resolution adopted by the Organisation of African Unity on 9 September 1999, at the fourth Extraordinary Session of the OAU Assembly of African Heads of State and Government held at Sirte, Libya. The Declaration announced decisions to:
- establish the African Union
- speed up the implementation of the provisions of the Abuja Treaty, to create an African Economic Community, African Central Bank, African Monetary Union, African Court of Justice and Pan-African Parliament, with the Parliament to be established by 2000
- prepare a Constitutive Act of the African Union that can be ratified by 31 December 2000 and become effective the following year
- give President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa a mandate to negotiate for the cancellation of the African indebtedness
- convene an African Ministerial Conference on security, stability, development and co-operation
The Declaration was followed by summits at Lomé in 2000, when the Constitutive Act of the African Union was adopted, and at Lusaka in 2001, when the plan for the implementation of the African Union was adopted. The first session of the Assembly of the African Union was held in Durban on 9 July 2002.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Constitutive Act of the African Union
- 👉 Constitutive Act of the African Union in the context of Sirte Declaration
- Constitutive Act of the African Union in the context of Organs of the African Union
- Constitutive Act of the African Union in the context of Executive Council of the African Union
- Constitutive Act of the African Union in the context of List of African Union member states by political system
- Constitutive Act of the African Union in the context of Member states of the African Union
Constitutive Act of the African Union in the context of Organs of the African Union
The African Union is governed by organs per Article 5 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union.
Constitutive Act of the African Union in the context of Executive Council of the African Union
The Executive Council Union African Union, formally the Executive Council of Ministers of the Union, is one of the seven institutions of the African Union as described in the Constitutive Act of the African Union.
According to the Constitutive Act, the Executive Council is subordinate to the Assembly of the African Union. Somewhat akin to the European Council, the Council elects members to the Commission of the African Union, which is the Union's executive branch. Despite its name, the Executive Council has no executive power. Instead, the Council executes its policy through the Commission and various executive branches of its members states.
Constitutive Act of the African Union in the context of List of African Union member states by political system
African Union (AU) member states have various forms of government. The Constitutive Act of the African Union makes no provision for what type of government a member state may or must have, but Article 30 states:
This clause has only been applied to Mauritania after its 2005 coup d'état, to Madagascar as a result of the 2009 Malagasy political crisis and to Togo during its political crisis in April 2005.
Constitutive Act of the African Union in the context of Member states of the African Union
The member states of the African Union are the 55 sovereign states that have ratified or acceded to the Constitutive Act of the African Union to become member states to the African Union (AU). The AU was the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), and AU membership was open to all OAU member states.
From an original membership of 36 states when the OAU was established on 25 May 1963, there have been nineteen successive enlargements—the largest occurring on 18 July 1975 when four states joined. Morocco is the newest member state, having joined on 31 January 2017. Morocco was a founding member of the OAU but withdrew in 1984 following the organization's acceptance of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as a member state, which claims the sovereignty of the disputed territory of Western Sahara with Morocco.