2008-09 Carr Center Fellow
Dan Kuwali Earns Doctorate Degree

Dan Kuwali, a Fellow at the Carr Center, successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, Persuasive Prevention: Implementation of the AU Right of Intervention, at the Faculty of Law Lund University. Dr. Dan Kuwali becomes the first, and so far, the only African doctoral graduate from the Faculty of Law, Lund University.

Dr. Kuwali’s thesis explores the scope and limits of Article 4(h) of the AU Act in order to generate new thinking on, and contribute a fresh legal approach to, the implementation of the AU’s right to intervene under Article 4(h). While Article 4(h) intervention can be construed as enforcement by consent, it is not clear whether the UN Charter provides for enforcement action by consent to be outside the purview of Article 53(1) of the UN Charter. Thus, Article 4(h) intervention without authorisation of the UN Security Council faces legal challenges in view of Article 103 of the UN Charter and Article 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which stipulates that a treaty is void if, at the time of its conclusion, it conflicts with a jus cogens norm. However, Article 4(h) can be interpreted as a general a priori invitationin the form of a treaty-based intervention to prevent or halt mass atrocity crimes, which are of legitimate concern to the international community, and give rise to prosecution under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Nevertheless, measures to ensure the observance of the law in prospect, rather than intervention and penalisation of violations after the fact are worthwhile in preventing violations given the financial and institutional incapacity of the AU. Hence the need for ‘persuasive prevention’ to deter potential perpetrators and ensure compliance of human rights and humanitarian law obligations.

Major Dr. Kuwali works as the Deputy Director of Legal Services in the Malawi Defence Force. He lectures Public International Law in the Masters Programme at Lund University/Raoul Wallenberg Institute, and is a correspondent of the Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law.