In 1992 Thomas Franck proclaimed an emerging right to democratic governance in international law. With reference to developments in the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, he identified free and fair elections as the core benchmark of this right, possessing significant legitimacy in terms of its pedigree, determinacy, coherence and adherence. The current contribution examines Franck’s understanding of the right to democratic governance within the African context, notably in relation to those institutional developments that have occurred since the adoption of the Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU) in 2000. Specifically, the article assesses the benchmarks of the notion of ‘unconstitutional changes of government’ in Article 4(p) of the AU Constitutive Act and their inter-linkage with free and fair elections. In so doing, it critically questions the response of the AU to unconstitutional changes of government and its implications for the normative maturity of the benchmark in question. It places the analysis in a broader context by drawing some parallels with the current back-sliding in democratic governance that is occurring also within the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Union.

中文翻译：

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非洲联盟反对“违宪更迭政府”的斗争：从道德规范到国际法要求？

1992 年，托马斯·弗兰克（Thomas Franck）在国际法中宣布了一项新兴的民主治理权利。谈到美洲国家组织（OAS）和欧洲安全与合作委员会的事态发展，他将自由和公正的选举确定为这项权利的核心基准，在其渊源、确定性、连贯性和坚持。目前的贡献考察了弗兰克对非洲范围内民主治理权的理解，特别是与自 2000 年通过《非洲联盟组织法》以来发生的那些制度发展有关的理解。具体而言，该文章评估了《非盟组织法》第 4(p) 条中“违宪政府更迭”概念的基准及其与自由和公平选举的相互联系。这样做，它批判性地质疑非盟对违宪政府更迭的反应及其对相关基准规范成熟度的影响。它通过与当前也在欧洲委员会 (CoE) 和欧盟内部发生的民主治理倒退进行比较，将分析置于更广泛的背景下。