AFRICAN UNION UNION AFRICAINE UNIÃO AFRICANA Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA P. O. Box 3243 Telephone: 011-551 7700 Website: www.au.int Fax: 011-551 7844 BRIEFING TO THE PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL ON THE LEGAL PROCESS FOR MEMBERSHIP OF THE AFRICAN UNION BY PROF VINCENT O. NMEHIELLE THE LEGAL COUNSEL AND DIRECTOR FOR LEGAL AFFAIRS 1. It is indeed a great honor for me to have been invited by this esteemed Organ of the African Union to provide a briefing to the esteemed members of the Council on the legal process for membership of the African Union. 2. At the outset, let me point out that the most important instrument in this regard is the Constitutive Act of the African Union that was adopted in 2000 and that entered into force in 2002 after its ratification by the required two-thirds of Member States under Article 28 of the Act. 3. The critical provisions of the Constitutive Act in this regard are Article 27; Article 29 and the overarching provision of Article 9(c) on the powers and functions of the Assembly as the supreme body of the Union. 4. Since the Act has already entered into force, an eligible African State can only join the Union through the process of accession as contemplated in Article 29 (1) of the Act. Accession to the Constitutive Act has the same legal effect as ratification. 5. In terms of who qualifies to be a member of the African Union, it is very clear from Article 29 (1) that any African State is eligible to be a member. Page | 1