Assessing the Roles of African Regional Instruments in Regulating Armed Conflicts: Challenges and Prospects

The principles of international humanitarian law have been ancient practice among the various kingdoms of Africa prior to the advent of modern international law. With the coming of modern States the conflicts caused by political and socio-cultural tensions has led to a lot of wars and civil unrest which led to the loss of lives and properties. The perpetrators of these crimes sometimes go unchecked by the law due to unwillingness of the state to sanction them or lack of strong institutions to punish them. These developments provide incentives for perpetrators of war crimes and crime against humanity to go scot free. However, after the advent of International Criminal Courts in 2002, things began to change. African warlords and tyrants were tried. However, sentiments began to get popular sympathy that ICC was an institution set up to try African leaders alone. Thus, Africans made some attempt to deal with its regional approach to regulate armed conflict within its region. But the questions that remain unan-swered are: how is Africa currently regulating armed conflict in its region? Are there adequate legal frameworks or institutions that regulate armed conflict? To what extent are the perpetrators of crimes during armed conflict in Africa held accountable? What are the factors affecting the efficacy of African institutional and legal framework in holding violators of laws of armed conflict accountable in Africa. It is from the attempt to address these questions that this paper draws its inspiration. This paper has found out that Africa has weak laws and absence of regional institutions to sanction violators of the rules regulating armed conflict in Africa. The paper deployed doctrinal research with specific emphasis on case laws, statutes, books, articles in journals and periodicals. It is the authors’ aspira-tion that this work will contribute to knowledge and inspire policy formulation.

Keywords

Assessing; Role; Regional Instruments; Regulating; Armed Conflicts

References

Elisa, O. (2012). International relations, hegemony and the ICC. Working Paper Series, 7-8. https://pure.mpg.de/PDF

Gilani, N. (2021). The classification of conflicts in international humanitarian law. DLP Forum. Retrieved January 10, 2024, from https://www.dlpforum.org/the-classification-of-conflicts-in-international-humanitarian-law/

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. (2021, January 14). What is the Responsibility to Protect and why do we need it? Retrieved July 21, 2025, from https://www.globalr2p.org

International Committee of the Red Cross. (n.d.). Convention (II) for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded, sick and shipwrecked members of armed forces at sea. Retrieved July 21, 2025, from https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gcii-1949

Maux, D. P., & Andreas, C. (2023, August 18). The Putin-South Africa arrest warrant saga: A tale of the shrinking world of an accused war criminal. European Journal of International Law. https://www.ejitalk.org

Okorie, H. (2021). Law of armed conflict principles and concept of international humanitarian law. Princeton & Associates.

Okwori, M. A., & Matthew, G. (2019). The jurisprudence of amnesty in Nigeria vis-à-vis Nigeria’s international obligations. International Journal of Comparative Law and Legal Philosophy, 3, 168-170.

Oumar, B. (2023). Exit from Nuremberg to the Hague: The Malabo Protocol and the Pan African road to Arusha. Global Quarterly, 3(3). https://www.cambridge.org

Respicio & Co. (2024). Public international law: International humanitarian law. Retrieved July 23, 2025, from https://www.respicio.ph/bar/2025/political-law-and-public-international-law/public-international-law/international-humanitarian

Respicio & Co. (2025). Categories of armed conflicts: International armed conflicts. Retrieved April 12, 2025, from https://www.respicio.ph/bar/2025/political-law-and-public-international-law/public-international-law/international-humanitarian-law/categories-of-armed-conflicts/international-ar

Silva, N. D., & Mary, A. (2024, December 25). The Malabo Protocol’s 10th anniversary revives advocacy for an African criminal court. European Journal of International Law. https://www.ejitalk.org

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (n.d.). Counter-terrorism module 6 key issues: Categorization of armed conflict. Retrieved January 10, 2024, from
https://www.unodc.org/e4j/en/terrorism/module-6/key-issues/categorization-of-armed-conflict.html

Van Den Berg, E. (2017, April 7). South Africa defends decision to ignore ICC’s Bashir arrest warrant. Reuters. https://www.icc-cpi.int

How to cite this paper

Assessing the Roles of African Regional Instruments in Regulating Armed Conflicts: Challenges and Prospects

How to cite this paper: Eunice Gandiba Tali, Godfree Matthew. (2025). Assessing the Roles of African Regional Instruments in Regulating Armed Conflicts: Challenges and Prospects. International Journal of Law and Social Justice, 1(1), 39-49.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/ijlsj.2025.12.007

International Journal of Law and Social Justice

Journal Menu

Volumes & Issues

Current Issue

All Volumes

More Articles

Assessing the Roles of African Regional Instruments in Regulating Armed Conflicts: Challenges and Prospects

Abstract

Keywords

References

How to cite this paper