The Principle of Universal Jurisdiction as a Tool of International Criminal Justice:
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SAUT
Abstract
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This study examines the applicability of the Principle of Universal Jurisdiction as a tool of
International Criminal Justice and the challenges for Africa. The problem addressed by this study
is the applicability of the principle of universal jurisdiction as a challenge for Africa in
administration of international criminal justice in Africa. with the specific focus on Africa and
international criminal project system, and looking on how issues of state sovereignty and
immunity of state officials hinders the efforts of the African states to end impunities using the
principle of universal jurisdiction as a tool.
The study is governed by the main objective which is to find out whether there is an operational
link between the national criminal jurisdiction and the universal jurisdiction in Africa in
addressing international crimes and whether the international court use of the universal
jurisdiction is on targeting African leaders as specific objectives.
This study has found out that, the application of the principle of universal jurisdiction as a tool
for international criminal justice in Africa is a challenge as encounters a number of challenges
among being the state sovereignty and immunity of some state official who are accused of
committing international crimes. The study found further that, there is no operational link
between the universal jurisdiction and domestic criminal jurisdiction as the universal jurisdiction
principle jeopardises the territorial jurisdiction which is more preferable in Africa. It was further
submitted that the ICC does not target African leaders.
Keywords
International Criminal Justice.