AMUIJ Date of Establishment: November 30, 1999

AMUIJ Date Operational: November 30, 2001

AMUIJ Seat: Nouakchott, Mauritania

States Subject to AMUIJ Jurisdiction: Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia

Number of Cases Received by the AMUIJ: Not available

The Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) was established in 1989 by the Treaty of Marrakech. Although the Member States of the AMU envisioned creating strong ties that would assist them in working together for regional peace and economic development with greater negotiating power against the Europe of the twelve in particular, they did not create an independent Union with many supranational powers. This is reflected in the Treaty of Marrakech provisions on its regional court, the Instance Judiciaire (AMUIJ) and the statute of the Court.

First, the Instance Judiciaire is composed of two judges from each Member State with six year terms. Pursuant to the Court’s statute the Court cannot sit without the presence of at least one judge from each Member State and a quorum of eight judges.

The AMUIJ is charged with resolving disputes on the interpretation and application of the Treaty of Marrakech and other documents adopted by the Union. Such cases may be brought to it by the Presidential Council or by a Member State involved in the dispute. Advisory opinions may be sought from the Instance Judiciaire by the Presidential Council only. The statute of the Court foresees that advisory opinions also will be requested regarding potential disputes between the Union and its employees.

Persons, legal or otherwise, have no ability to engage the Court directly in the enforcement of the laws of the AMU without first convincing their government to espouse their claims. Access to the AMUIJ was completely cut off for persons with the rejection by the Member States of the European Community model allowing for individuals and commercial entities to bring issues of Community Law to the European Court of Justice via the system of national court referrals to the regional court.

While the limited standing provided before the Court restricts the potential for its acting as an engine for integration as the European Court of Justice has, the Instance Judiciaire does have supranational characteristics in that its decisions are, according to the Treaty of Marrakech, final and enforceable without the need for domestication of the decisions.

In making its decisions, the AMUIJ applies first the Treaty, agreements made under the Union and decisions of the Union organs. Secondarily, the Court applies general principles of law common to the jurisprudence of the Member States’ legal systems, along with general principles of international law as long as the latter are compatible with the provisions of the Treaty. Lastly, the Court can apply international jurisprudence and doctrines in making its decisions.

The scope of the Court’s jurisdiction is not yet as large as envisioned in 1990 as the slow pace of the Union has meant that there are few Conventions completed to give rise to disputes. Of three ratified conventions only the Commerce and Tariff Convention specifically provides for disputes to go to the Court. However, the Convention first sends disputes to a commission made up of representatives of the individual Member States for a political resolution. Only if that commission fails to find a solution to disputes over the interpretation or application of the Convention, may such suits be brought to the Instance Judiciaire.

Despite having been established in 1990 relatively swiftly after the creation of the AMU, the Instance Judiciaire, like the AMU itself, is struggling. While the organization’s difficulties stem substantially from the political tensions between Morocco and Algeria, the Court suffers like many of the African regional courts from a lack of funding due to the irregular payment of Member State contributions to the budget. The Court holds regular meetings but has not heard any cases made public.