LESSON 37 - THE PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE COMMITTEE (PRC)

Hello, thank you for joining me on my YouTube channel. My name is Christiana Sagie. On this channel, I will be teaching about international law and these teachings will be in the form of short weekly lecture series. Over time, I will be surfacing varied concepts of international law. When and where applicable, these concepts will be analyzed and brought to you as it relates to current trends in international law as they arise. At the end of this lecture, you will find the transcript of the lecture in the link below. Also, for current trend and analysis in international law, you can subscribe to my blog. All the details you will find in the comment section below. For the 37th lecture in this lecture series, we will be exploring another organ of the AU, encapsulating in Article 5f of the Constitutive Act of the AU, the Permanent Representative Committees, the PRC. In this lesson, we will be unpacking its composition, its functions, and its mode of operation. So let's begin. What is the Permanent Representative Committee? The PRC is an establishment of Article 21 of the Constitutive Act of the AU. In terms of its composition, Article 21.1 of the Constitutive Act of the AU and Rule 3 of the PRC Rules of Procedure states that the PRC consists of permanent representatives of the Union and other plenipotentiaries of Member States. As such, all Member States of the AU are members of the PRC. According to Article 21.2, the PRC is given the broad function of preparing the work of the Executive Council and acting on the Executive Council's instructions. It may set up such subcommittees or working groups as it may Now let us look at its operational structure. According to Rule 3 of the Pan-African Parliament's Rule of Procedures, the PRC is one of the organs of PAP. This we also mentioned in Lesson 34. In terms of the structure and organization of PRCs, Article 22 of PAP Rules establishes 10 permanent committees and one ad-hoc committee. The 10 PRCs are the Committee on Rural Economic, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, the Committee on Monetary and Financial Affairs, the Committee on Trade, Customs and Immigration Matters, the Committee on Cooperation, International Relations and Conflict Resolution, the Committee on Transport, Industry, Communication, Energy, Science and Technology, the Committee on Health, Labor and Social Affairs, the Committee on Education, Culture, Tourism and Human Resources, the Committee on Gender, Family, Youth and People with Disability, the Committee on Justice and Human Rights, and the Committee on Rules, Privileges and Discipline. On the strength of Rule 22, Paragraph 3 to 4 of PAP Rules and Rule 4 of PRC Rules of Procedure, PAP is also empowered to establish an ad-hoc committee that lasts for a definite period, whenever it deems fit. PAP also has the authority to restructure existing PRCs or create new PRCs whenever it deems appropriate. In terms of composition of the PRCs, each of the PRCs can comprise up to 30 members, but not more, as encapsulated in Rule 22.5 of PAP Rules. In terms of its functions, the PRCs have a broad range of functions. A host of its functions include close working relations with the Executive Council. This includes acting as an advisory body to the EC, preparing EC meetings, agenda and draft resolution, proposing the composition of the AU organs, as well as the composition of ad-hoc and subcommittees. In light of the current structure, the PRCs organise through the following subcommittees. Advisory Subcommittee on General Supervision and Coordination on Budgetary, Financial and Administrative Matters, which oversees the financial and administrative management of the AU on behalf of the PRCs. Subcommittee on Budget Matters, which monitors and provides technical evaluation of the AU draft. Subcommittee on Audit Matters, which assists the AU in handling financial reporting processes, internal control, audits and the monitoring of compliance with the rules and regulations. Subcommittee on Economic and Trade Matters, which is responsible for examining trade and economic activities between member states. Subcommittee on Headquarters and Host Agreements, which is responsible for the relationship between the AU and host countries. In this lesson, we have captured Article 21 of the Constitutional Act of the AU, and addressed the composition, functions and structure of the PRCs. In our next lesson, we will be exploring another organ of the AU, the Specialised Technical Committees, the STCs. So I want to say thank you so very much for joining in. Remember to like, share, subscribe, leave your comments in the comment section below and hit the notification bell so that you're notified when there's a new video. We would also like to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter. Let us know the content you'd like to see. Thank you.