View source for African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance

The '''African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ADC)''' is a document adopted by member states of the [[African Union]] (AU) on January 30, 2007, in order to promote [[liberal democracy]] and [[human rights]] in Africa.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=ISSAfrica.org|title=A tortuous road for the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance|url=https://issafrica.org/pscreport/psc-insights/a-tortuous-road-for-the-african-charter-on-democracy-elections-and-governance|access-date=2021-03-19|website=ISS Africa|language=en}}</ref> It is the first binding document adopted by members of the African Union. Among its provisions are several aimed at combating unconstitutional regime changes, including the first legal instrument adopted by the AU acknowledging that [[Constitutional Coup|constitutional coups]] are a form of unconstitutional regime change.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Elvy|first=Stacy-Ann|title=Towards A New Democratic Africa: The African Charter on Democracy, Elections And Governance|url=https://law.emory.edu/eilr/_documents/volumes/27/1/articles/elvy.pdf|journal=Emory International Law Review|volume=27|pages=41–117|via=Emory Law}}</ref>
[[Cameroon]] and [[Burkina Faso]], two [[Anocracy|semi-authoritarian]] countries,<ref>''Examining the U.S. Policy Response to Entrenched African Leadership: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on  African  Affairs  of  the  S.  Comm.  on  Foreign  Relations'',  112th  Cong.  39,  43  n.5  (2012)  (statement  of  Christopher  Fomunyoh,  Senior  Associate  &  Regional  Director  for  Central  and  West  Africa,  National  Democratic  Institute)</ref><ref>''Burkina  Faso:  Freedom  in  the  World  2012'',  FREEDOM HOUSE,  http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2012/burkina-faso</ref> have ratified the ADC, indicating that adoption of the charter on its own is not enough to prevent [[authoritarianism]] in Africa.<ref name=":0" />
== Background ==
The [[Supranational union|supranational organization]] which preceded the AU, the [[Organisation of African Unity|Organization of African Unity]], had a similar accord called the Declaration on the Framework for OAU Response to Unconstitutional Changes in Government, or the "Lomé Declaration," for short. Under the Lomé Declaration, the OAU was equipped with an official framework to deal with unconstitutional changes of government in Africa. However, the Declaration was largely ineffective due to a number of reasons, including that the Lomé Declaration was not legally binding, it failed to create a framework for democratizing authoritarian countries, it defined unconstitutional changes narrowly, excluding [[Constitutional Coup|constitutional coups]], and it failed to create sufficient enforcement mechanisms.<ref name=":0" /> The ADC would later attempt to address some of these problems by making the charter binding and including constitutional coups in its mandate, for example.
The ADC was also preceded by a number of AU instruments which had similar goals of promoting democracy, protecting human rights, and preventing unconstitutional regime changes. Among these are the [[Constitutive Act of the African Union|Constitutive Act]] of the AU, the [[African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights]], the Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa, and the AU Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption.<ref name=":0" />
== Adoption by member states ==
Adopted in 2007, the charter only came into effect on February 15, 2012.<ref>African  Union,  List  of  Countries  Which  Have  Signed,  Ratified/Acceded  to  the  African  Charter  on  Democracy, Elections and Governance (January 17, 2012), http://www.chr.up.ac.za/images/files/news/news_2012/african_charter_democracy_governance.pdf [hereinafter Ratification Status of the ADC].</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|date=28 June 2019|title=List of Countries Which Have Signed, Ratified/Acceded the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance|url=https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36384-sl-AFRICAN%20CHARTER%20ON%20DEMOCRACY%2C%20ELECTIONS%20AND%20GOVERNANCE.PDF|journal=African Union}}</ref> Signature and ratification by member states, however, has been a slow and continual process since the charter's inception. Many of the more authoritarian member states of the African Union were unwilling to ratify the ADC because of its expansive provisions designed to encourage liberal democracy.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2006-06-30|title=AU turns down democracy charter|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5132692.stm|access-date=2021-03-19}}</ref> By 2009, 29 of 55 member states had signed the ADC, and only three had ratified it.<ref name=":2" />
In order for a member state to adopt the charter, the head of state must sign the charter during an AU meeting, at which point it may be ratified. However, the ratification process is often prohibitively complicated, especially in states which lack the political will to adopt the charter in the first place.<ref name=":1" /> Ratification typically requires significant input from all key government and non-governmental stakeholders and often involves making preemptive costly adjustments to national institutions to be in accordance with the principles of the charter.<ref name=":1" />
Of the 55 member states that make up the African Union, 46 have signed, 34 have ratified, and 34 have deposited.
{| class="wikitable collapsible"
|+Dates of Signature, Ratification/Accession, and Deposit as of 2019<ref name=":2" />
!Country
!Date of Signature
!Date of Ratification
!Date of Deposit
|-
|Algeria
|14/07/2012
|20/11/2017
|10/01/2017
|-
|Angola
|27/01/2021
| -
| -
|-
|Benin
|16/07/2007
|28/06/2012
|11/07/2012
|-
|Botswana
| -
| -
| -
|-
|Burkina Faso
|02/08/2007
|26/05/2010
|06/07/2010
|-
|Burundi
|20/06/2007
| -
| -
|-
|Cameroon
| -
|24/08/2011
|16/01/2012
|-
|Central African Republic
|28/06/2008
|24/04/2017
|06/03/2019
|-
|Cape Verde
|27/01/2012
| -
| -
|-
|Chad
|22/01/2009
|11/07/2011
|13/10/2011
|-
|Côte d'Ivoire
|11/06/2009
|16/10/2013
|28/11/2013
|-
|Comoros
|02/02/2010
|30/11/2016
|06/01/2017
|-
|Congo
|18/06/2007
| -
| -
|-
|Djibouti
|15/06/2007
|02/12/2012
|22/01/2013
|-
|Democratic Republic of Congo
|29/06/2008
| -
| -
|-
|Egypt
| -
| -
| -
|-
|Equatorial Guinea
|30/01/2011
| -
| -
|-
|Eritrea
| -
| -
| -
|-
|Ethiopia
|28/12/2007
|05/12/2008
|06/01/2009
|-
|Gabon
|02/02/2010
| -
| -
|-
|Gambia
|29/01/2008
|11/06/2018
|04/02/2019
|-
|Ghana
|15/01/2008
|06/09/2010
|19/10/2010
|-
|Guinea-Bissau
|17/06/2008
|23/12/2011
|04/01/2012
|-
|Guinea
|09/05/2007
|17/06/2011
|11/07/2011
|-
|Kenya
|28/06/2008
| -
| -
|-
|Libya
| -
| -
| -
|-
|Lesotho
|17/03/2010
|30/06/2010
|09/07/2010
|-
|Liberia
|18/06/2008
|23/02/2014
|07/03/2017
|-
|Madagascar
|31/01/2014
|23/02/2017
|13/04/2017
|-
|Mali
|29/06/2007
|13/08/2013
|02/09/2013
|-
|Malawi
| -
|11/10/2012
|24/10/2012
|-
|Morocco
| -
| -
| -
|-
|Mozambique
|27/05/2010
|24/04/2018
|09/05/2018
|-
|Mauritania
|29/01/2008
|07/07/2008
|28/07/2008
|-
|Mauritius
|14/12/2007
| -
| -
|-
|Namibia
|10/05/2007
|23/08/2016
|30/08/2016
|-
|Nigeria
|02/07/2007
|01/12/2011
|09/01/2012
|-
|Niger
|17/06/2008
|04/10/2011
|08/11/2011
|-
|Rwanda
|29/06/2007
|09/07/2010
|14/07/2010
|-
|South Africa
|01/02/2010
|24/12/2010
|24/01/2011
|-
|Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
|25/07/2010
|27/11/2013
|27/01/2014
|-
|Senegal
|15/12/2008
| -
| -
|-
|Seychelles
| -
|12/08/2016
|28/09/2016
|-
|Sierra Leone
|17/06/2008
|17/02/2009
|08/12/2009
|-
|South Sudan
|24/01/2013
|26/01/2014
|13/04/2015
|-
|São Tomé and Príncipe
|01/02/2010
|18/04/2019
|27/06/2019
|-
|Sudan
|30/06/2008
|19/06/2013
|16/09/2013
|-
|Eswatini
|29/01/2008
| -
| -
|-
|Tanzania
| -
| -
| -
|-
|Togo
|30/10/2007
|24/01/2012
|20/03/2012
|-
|Tunisia
|27/01/2013
| -
| -
|-
|Uganda
|16/12/2008
| -
| -
|-
|Zambia
|31/01/2010
|31/05/2011
|08/07/2011
|-
|Zimbabwe
|21/03/2018
| -
| -
|}
== See also ==
* [[Inter-American Democratic Charter]]
* [[Ushuaia Protocol]]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== Submission for Review ==
[[Category:Government in Africa]]
[[Category:Democracy]]
[[Category:African Union treaties]]
[[Category:International relations]]
[[Category:International law]]
[[Category:African political history]]