Taken together, the case studies presented in this book demonstrate that Africa can stake a valid claim to being part of the on-going process of shaping new rules and principles of international law. Some of the more important examples are: the broadening of the refugee definition and the principle of non-refoulement in the area of refugee law; the rights of access and transit to the sea and the concept of the exclusive economic zone in the law of the sea; the principle of uti possidetis; and the concept of peoples' rights.