Assembly/AU/Dec.271(XIV) Page 1 DECISION ON THE ABUSE OF THE PRINCIPLE OF UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION Doc. EX.CL/540(XVI) The Assembly, 1. TAKES NOTE of the recommendations of the Executive Council on the Progress Report of the Commission on the Implementation of Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.243 (XIII) adopted in Sirte, Great Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in July 2009; 2. ALSO TAKES NOTE of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution A/RES/64/L117 on the Scope and Application of the Principle of Universal Jurisdiction adopted on 16 December 2009 by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly and INVITES all Member States to submit to the UN Secretary General, before 30 April 2010, information and observations on the scope and application of the principle of universal jurisdiction, including information on the relevant applicable international treaties, their domestic legal rules and judicial practice; 3. REITERATES its previous positions articulated in decisions Assembly/Dec.199(XI), Assembly/Dec.213(XII) and Assembly/Dec.243 (XIII) adopted in Sharm el Sheikh, Addis Ababa and Sirte in July 2008, February 2009 and July 2009 respectively to the effect that there has been blatant abuse of the Principle of Universal Jurisdiction particularly by some non-African States and REITERATES its call for immediate termination of all pending indictments; 4. FURTHER REITERATES its commitment to fight impunity in conformity with the provisions of Article 4(h) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union; 5. URGES the European Union (EU) and its Member States to extend the necessary cooperation to the African Union to facilitate the search for a durable solution to the abuse of the Principle of Universal Jurisdiction; 6. ALSO REITERATES its conviction of the need for an international regulatory body with competence to review and/or handle complaints or appeals arising out of abuse of the Principle of Universal Jurisdiction by individual States; 7. CALLS UPON all concerned States, particularly European States, to respect international law and particularly the immunity of state officials when applying the Principle of Universal Jurisdiction; Adopted by the Fourteenth Ordinary Session of the Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 2 February 2010