The Concept of Legitimate Governance in the Contemporary International Legal System

Okafor, Obiora Chinedu

doi:10.1017/s0165070x00004319

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…There is significant worry, even among strong supporters of the ICC, that the Court, especially because of the behaviour of its first prosecutor, has wittingly or unwittingly laid itself wide open to the charge that it is has become an instrument for the subordination of weaker African states, at the same time as it seems to be exhibiting a glaring impotence in the face of global power. 6 The point here is less about the accuracy of this charge, and more about the perceived legitimacy of the Court and its activities (Okafor 1997). For instance, whether or not one agrees with him, the charge famously levied by the then Sudanese Ambassador to the UN against the ICC's first prosecutor -referring to him as 'a screwdriver in the workshop of double standards' -resonated among a significant percentage of observers on the African continent, and not just within the ranks of cynical leaders (Tisdall 2008).…”

Section: The Negative Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, whether or not one agrees with him, the charge famously levied by the then Sudanese Ambassador to the UN against the ICC's first prosecutor -referring to him as 'a screwdriver in the workshop of double standards' -resonated among a significant percentage of observers on the African continent, and not just within the ranks of cynical leaders (Tisdall 2008). 7 This charge is connected, for many on the continent, with a deeply-held and historically understandable aversion to imperialism, foreign subjugation and racially discriminatory conduct -an aversion that remains widespread within and beyond the continent to this day (Okafor 1997;Tharoor 2002). As former UN Assistant Secretary General Sashi Tharoor once wrote while in office: …those who follow world affairs would not be entirely wise to consign the issue of colonialism to the proverbial dustbin of history.…”

Section: The Negative Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Between Tunnel Vision and a Sliding Scale: Power, Normativity and Justice in the Praxis of the International Criminal Court

Okafor¹,

Ngwaba²

2023

Preprint

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<p>This article examines the relatively extensive, liberal and increasing deployment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the central mechanism for redressing gross human rights abuses in Africa. It shines the spotlight on how global and domestic power matrices affect the character and behaviour of international criminal justice norms and institutions, including our sense of what the model approach to international criminal justice ought to be in Africa and elsewhere. Three inter-related arguments are advanced as follows: first, the deployment of the ICC to help redress gross human rights abuses on the African continent has its pros and cons, but its deployment to play a central role as it currently does is fraught with suspicion as regards the true intention; second, when it comes to redressing the gross human rights abuses that are committed on the African continent, as elsewhere, the ICC is not the only viable and available option – there are a range of other reasonable options in the repertoire of international criminal law and policy; and third, it is largely because of the interplay of domestic and global power matrices (and not in the main because of some immanent sense of morality or logic) that international criminal justice has increasingly tended to take one particular, generally inflexible, ICC-heavy, form in its encounters with gross human rights abuses in Africa.</p> <p> </p>

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Section: The Negative Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Negative Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between Tunnel Vision and a Sliding Scale: Power, Normativity and Justice in the Praxis of the International Criminal Court

Okafor¹,

Ngwaba²

2023

Preprint

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The Arab Spring and the Question of Legality of Democratic Revolution in Theory and Practice: A Perspective Based on the African Union Normative Framework

Obse¹

2014

Leiden Journal of International Law

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Traditional rules of international law do not recognize a positive right of revolution, nor a prohibition thereof as the relevant rules merely place the legality of revolutions in their effectiveness. However, the recent upsurge in democratically inspired revolutions has provided high currency to proposals that seek to re-evaluate the position of international law towards revolutions. Proponents of the theory of democratic revolution have sought to establish the legality of revolutions on an elevated normative ground using the lofty ideals of human rights and democratic governance and ultimately suggesting the existence of a positive right of democratic revolution under international law. Focusing on the Arab spring and the normative framework of the African Union, this article argues that the existing (emerging) human rights and democratic norms do not necessarily provide any distinct normative justifications for democratic revolutions beyond the legality that could be possibly established on the basis of traditional norms of international law. While the study recognizes emerging norms that represent a shift away from the effectiveness doctrine, it is observed that the pro-revolutionary implications of the norms are not as obvious as their importance as an (anti-revolutionary) injunction against the forcible ouster of democratically elected governments. The article concludes with the observation that the premium placed on democratic elections in the various normative instruments underscores the centrality of elections – and, alas, not revolutions – as the primary means through which the people's constitutive power (pouvoir constituant) is to be expressed.

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Democratic Legitimacy as a Criterion for the Recognition of Governments: A Response to Professor Erika de Wet

Okafor

2014

AJIL Unbound

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The Concept of Legitimate Governance in the Contemporary International Legal System

Cited by 3 publications

References 23 publications

Between Tunnel Vision and a Sliding Scale: Power, Normativity and Justice in the Praxis of the International Criminal Court

Between Tunnel Vision and a Sliding Scale: Power, Normativity and Justice in the Praxis of the International Criminal Court

The Arab Spring and the Question of Legality of Democratic Revolution in Theory and Practice: A Perspective Based on the African Union Normative Framework

Democratic Legitimacy as a Criterion for the Recognition of Governments: A Response to Professor Erika de Wet

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