This book asks: Why has the UN empowered itself to offer constitutional assistance in sovereign Third World states? This Chapter, which draws from the UN’s official explanations completes the answer. It shows that since its birth in 1949, UNCA has: a) assisted colonies and/or sovereign states adopt what is central to colonial trusteeship: the Western liberal constitution; b) worked in response to perceived problems with their constitution-making process and the type of constitutional content they create; c) worked to achieve four ostensible ends: free markets, the rule of law, good governance (including natural resources exploitation), and civilized customs, and their modern equivalent: women’s rights; d) served ostensibly to civilize/ ‘modernize’ Third World peoples, in market-oriented ways, with a view to either manufacture their sovereignty, or ‘strengthen’ it. In these ways, since its birth, UNCA has acted as international trusteeship. Therefore, so does its child: UN/International Territorial Administration. This chapter concludes that UNCA has spawned a new civilized standard: participatory constitution-making.
Women's access to regional justice as a fundamental element of the rule of law: The effect of the absence of a women's rights committee on the enforcement of the African Women's Protocol
