On Regional Criminal Courts as Representatives of Political Communities: The Special Case of the African Criminal Court

This chapter focuses on the question of moral standing: on whose behalf does a criminal court purport to act? It examines the justification for a regional criminal court, namely the proposed Criminal Chamber within the African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples’ Rights. The chapter draws on Emile Durkheim’s concept of the social function of criminal law and Antony Duff’s idea of the requisite ‘political community’ on whose behalf a penal institution speaks to argue that a region can constitute a political community capable of being protected by criminal law and represented by a regional criminal court. The Malabo Protocol, which establishes the Criminal Chamber, includes not only the standard ‘core crimes’ but a range of other crimes as well. This chapter argues that these are crimes that significantly affect Africans and African states, making it appropriate to create a regional institution to attempt to counter them.