In February 2019, the African Union (AU), at the summit it held in Addis Ababa, adopted its transitional justice policy. The AU Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP) is the culmination of a nearly decade-long legislative process. In the long trajectory of the elaboration of norms by the AU, this is a landmark development, which endows the AU with a full-fledged justice architecture in combination with its human rights architecture and the Malabo Protocol on the criminal jurisdiction of the African Court. This policy brief provides a summary of the salient elements of the AUTJP and a discussion on the importance of the policy for societies in transition. It outlines what this policy means in terms of the role of the AU and how it can be used by affected groups and advocacy organizations, as well as the prospects and challenges for implementation.
