First working draft of a protocol to the 2003 African union convention on preventing and combating corruption (AUCPCC)‎ on private civil : actions against corruption with comments and background footnotes \

الملخص EN

Corruption is an international phenomenon that continues to be at the heart of governance deficits in Africa.

It impedes societal development, denies citizens access to quality infrastructure, good health facilities, affordable and quality education, and, above all, breeds political violence and insecurity.

In an effort to combat this corruption, the African Union adopted the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC) in 2003.

The adoption of the AU Convention in 2003, and its enforcement in 2006, gave hope to many in Africa that governments across the continent were determined to fight corruption.

The convention is currently at its sixteen-year anniversary since its adoption, during which time there have been no significant or positive changes witnessed throughout the African continent.

Meanwhile, it has been a struggle for Africa to effectively fight corruption through the criminal justice system, and it is well recognized that the criminal justice system does not provide for compensation to victims of corruption for damages suffered as a result of corrupt acts.

In the light of the above facts, this paper highlights the importance of private civil actions (PCAs) in our legal system if considered by the AU Head of States.

This method can play an important and complementary role in the criminal justice system's efforts to fight corruption in Africa.

The proposed PCA methodology is not intended to substitute a court's jurisdiction to prosecute corrupt acts through the criminal justice system.

Rather, it is intended to establish the foundation for an additional method to fight corruption in Africa.

This paper concludes with a first draft of a protocol to the 2003 AU Convention that can serve as the starting point for an initiative to later successfully adopt a PCA protocol by the AU Member States.

This is the first proposed protocol in Africa on the topic of PCAs against corruption.

The adoption of this proposed protocol will help obtain a permanent solution to corruption in Africa.