In this article an attempt is made to take stock of recent developments (1997–2000) regarding the ongoing debate on the UN Security Council enlargement. The comprehensive plan for reform, known as the ‘Razali Plan’, its repercussions on the debate as well as the attitude of the membership of the UN are among the issues discussed here. We argue that the only realistic proposition for the time being is an expansion of the non‐permanent membership of the Security Council, which could give some impetus to the process of comprehensive reform.

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In March 2001 the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), meeting in extraordinary session in Sirte, Libya declared the establishment of a new pan-African body, the African Union (Union).1 The Constitutive Act (Act) of the Union entered into force on 26 May 20012 and in due course this new institution will replace the OAU.3 The Union, the brainchild of Libyan President Qaddafi, and modeled on the European Union, is the culmination of the OAU's piecemeal process of political cooperation and economic integration. It is designed to provide Africa with the legal and institutional framework to confront the twin challenges of the post-Cold War age and globalisation.

This article examines the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) role in relation to international crimes allegedly committed in Africa; it considers the difficulties and obstacles that the ICC has encountered in securing the co-operation of not only States Parties but also of non-States Parties which, in certain instances, are mandated to assist it; and it analyses the acrimonious relationship that has arisen between the African Union (AU), the Continent’s political and security organisation, and the ICC. Thus far, the two most significant sources of antagonism between the ICC and Africa have been the arrest warrants against President al-Bashir of Sudan in relation to the situation in Darfur, and the crimes against humanity allegedly perpetrated during Kenya’s post-election violence in 2007–2008. Finally, the article examines the continuing attempts by African States to amend Article 16 of the Rome Statute.