The African Union on Tuesday sought an amendment to the Rome Statute to authorise the UN General Assembly to defer cases when the Security Council fails to decide on them.

The bloc wants "an amendment to Article 16 of the Rome statute in order to allow the UN General Assembly to defer cases for one year in the case where the UN Security Council would have failed to take a decision within a specified timeframe," according to a document obtained by AFP. The AU summit that wrapped up Tuesday said it welcomed the proposal submitted by South Africa seeking changes to the statute establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Following the ICC's March 2009 arrest warrant on Sudanese President Omar el-Beshir for war crimes, the 53-member bloc called on the UN Security Council to defer the case, but it is yet to do so. The bloc "deeply regrets" that its request to the Security Council to defer proceedings against el-Beshir "has not been acted upon and in this regard reiterates its request to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)."

The ICC issued the arrest warrant for President el-Beshir of Sudan on five counts of crimes against humanity and two of war crimes committed in Sudan's war-torn western Darfur region -- its first-ever warrant for a sitting head of state. The AU has argued that the execution of the warrant risks upsetting peace efforts in Darfur and south Sudan.