The African Justice Cascade and the Malabo Protocol

This article argues that the Malabo Protocol reconceptualizes the idea of transitional justice mechanisms as varying approaches meant solely to address the legacy of abuse in one nation and proposes that transitional justice mechanisms can also encompass regional and transnational efforts to respond to mass human rights violations. It also argues that the Protocol seeks to correct for perceived biases in international criminal justice. It provides a brief overview of the domestic, hybrid, and international criminal trials in Africa that have informed the development of the regional court and argues that the Malabo Protocol offers the Continent an important, alternative vision of regional criminal justice.