Reflections on the ECOWAS Community Court Protocol and the Constitutions of Member States

2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-137
Author(s):  
A.O. Enabulele
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Legal System ◽  
West African ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Community Court ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Human Rights Violation ◽  
Community Legal Order

AbstractOnly recently, the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States, which was hitherto opened only to Community States, was expanded to allow direct human rights violation claims by individuals. Though the court has since started to function, its impact is yet to be felt ‐ citizens of recalcitrant Community States still live in wanton violation of their rights in most of the States, where national courts are weak and effective remedies for rights violations largely nonexistent. This is consequent upon the failure of Community States to align their national laws with the new legal order represented by the Community Court; national laws and indeed national courts are still very hostile to the court and its judgements, thereby discouraging citizens from attending the court. This Article takes a look at the relevant provisions of the constitutions of Community States and advocates an urgent need for the cooperation to be forged between national legal systems and the community legal system through the amendment of hostile laws, as a prerequisite to the achievement of the virile community legal order.

scholarly journals A New International Human Rights Court for West Africa: The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice

2013 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
pp. 737-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen J. Alter ◽  
Laurence Helfer ◽  
Jacqueline R. McAllister
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Niger Delta ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
West African ◽  
Education For All ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Community Court ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
The Right

The Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Court) is an increasingly active and bold adjudicator of human rights. Since acquiring jurisdiction over human rights complaints in 2005, theECOWASCourt has issued numerous decisions condemning human rights violations by the member states of the Economic Community of West African States (Community). Among this Court’s path-breaking cases are judgments against Niger for condoning modern forms of slavery and against Nigeria for impeding the right to free basic education for all children. TheECOWASCourt also has broad access and standing rules that permit individuals and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to bypass national courts and file suits directly with the Court. Although the Court is generally careful in the proof that it requires of complainants and in the remedies that it demands of governments, it has not shied away from politically courageous decisions, such as rulings against the Gambia for the torture of journalists and against Nigeria for failing to regulate multinational companies that have degraded the environment of the oil-rich Niger Delta.

scholarly journals Critical Issues in the Human Rights Mandate of the ECOWAS Court of Justice

2010 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solomon T Ebobrah
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
West Africa ◽  
West African ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Community Court ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
International Human ◽  
Human Rights Violation

AbstractA new opportunity for international human rights litigation in West Africa was presented in 2005 when the Economic Community of West African States adopted a protocol to empower its judicial organ, the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, to determine cases of human rights violation that occur in ECOWAS member states. Since then, several human rights claims have been brought before the court. However, critical questions concerning the legality of the new mandate and the suitability of the court to exercise a human rights jurisdiction have lingered. Beginning with an inquiry into the foundation within ECOWAS for the exercise of a human rights jurisdiction, this article analyses the legitimacy of the human rights mandate of the ECOWAS court and interrogates crucial issues relevant to the effectiveness of the mandate. The article suggests ways to enhance execution of the mandate and concludes with a call for careful judicial navigation in the exercise of the court's expanded jurisdiction.

Can the Economic Community of West African States Community Court of Justice Enforce the African Charter Replicas of the Non-Justiciable Chapter II Human Rights Provisions of the Nigerian Constitution against Nigeria?

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 312-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amos O. Enabulele ◽  
Anthony Osaro Ewere
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Federal Republic ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
West African ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Community Court ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Education Commission ◽  
African Charter

This article highlights a major source of tension between the Supplementary Protocol of the Economic Community of West Africa States Community Court of Justice (ECOWAS CCJ) and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (CFRN), in relation to the enforcement of economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights against Nigeria, as manifested in a recent decision of the ECOWAS CCJ in Registered Trustees of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) v Federal Republic of Nigeria and Universal Basic Education Commission. The focus of this article on the tension is both from the perspective of Nigerian law and of the ECOWAS CCJ. It argues that while the CFRN cannot deprive the ECOWAS CCJ of the jurisdiction expressly given to it by its Protocols, the CFRN does have implications for the enforcement of any decision of the ECOWAS CCJ that offends its provisions within the CFRN sphere of superiority.

scholarly journals The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States as a Constitutional Court

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kangnikoé Bado
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
West African ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Constitutional Courts ◽  
Member States ◽  
Constitutional Order ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Innovative Solutions

One of the major innovations made by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is the unequivocal granting of a supranational role to the Court of Justice of the organisation. However, its human rights mandate has led to real and potential tensions within the ECOWAS legal order. The tensions stem from the legal force of judgments of constitutional courts of member states and the admissibility of individual petitions before the Court. This work identifies some deficiencies in the current regime of the human rights mandate of the Court. Gaps exist at the level of the member states’ constitutional order, as well as at the community level. The supranational competence of the jurisdiction must be implemented by the possibility of ordering concrete measures to be taken by states for the reparation of human rights violations. Innovative solutions are suggested in this work in order to fill procedural and substantial gaps in the protection system established in West Africa.

Federation of African Journalists, Camara, Jaw Manneh, Jobe and Fatty v. Republic of Gambia

2021 ◽  
Vol 194 ◽  
pp. 29-65
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Public Information ◽  
West African ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Community Court ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Human Rights Treaties

29Human rights — Freedom of expression — Free speech — Journalists — Restriction of access to public information — Criminalization of defamation, sedition and insult — Torture and inhuman or degrading treatment — Unlawful and arbitrary detention — Living in exile — Whether Gambian laws violating rights of journalistsTreaties — Human rights treaties — Treaty obligations — Obligations under regional and international human rights treaties — Compliance of arrest and detention with treaty obligations — Compliance of Gambia’s libel, sedition and false news publication laws with its treaty obligations — African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 1981 — Revised Treaty of the Economic Community of West African States, 1993 — International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 — Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948International tribunals — Jurisdiction — Community Court of Justice of Economic Community of West African States — Non-applicability of exhaustion of domestic remedies — Statute of limitations — Interpretation of Article 9(3) Supplementary Protocol, 2005 — Whether statute of limitations applicable — Whether Community Court of Justice decisions affirming statutory limitation to be overruled — Whether Court having jurisdiction

Towards an Analyses of the Mega-Political Jurisprudence of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice

2020 ◽  
pp. 149-177
Author(s):  
Olabisi D. Akinkugbe
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Federal Republic ◽  
West African ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Community Court ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
The Social ◽  
Traditional Scholarship ◽  
Political Disputes

This chapter fills the gap in the judicialization of mega-political disputes before the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice (ECOWAS Court). Judicialization of mega-political disputes in this Court has until now been understudied. Although the ECOWAS Court lacks an express mandate to adjudicate over political disputes, the Court has been innovative in assuming jurisdiction over mega-political disputes when these disputes are intertwined with actual or potential human rights violations. The Ugokwe doctrine, enunciated in the case of, Dr. Jerry Ugokwe v. The Federal Republic of Nigeria and Dr. Christian Okeke, established the “cause of action” for the judicialization of mega-political disputes before the ECOWAS Court. By examining cases that have largely remained obscure, the chapter uncovers the judicialization of political disputes, particularly of electoral cases, before the ECOWAS Court. Unlike the traditional scholarship that measures effectiveness based on compliance with the decisions of the courts, the chapter argues that the significance of the mega-political disputes judicialized before Africa’s regional courts derives from the instrumental objectives of the litigants. By incorporating the social, political, and economic contexts that gave rise to the francophone and anglophone cases analyzed, the chapter illuminates the judicialization of mega-political disputes in ways that are not wedded to the traditional analyses of the functions of regional economic courts.

The Puzzling Paradox Presented within the African Supranational Judicial Institutions: The ECOWAS Court of Justice

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (Supplement) ◽  
pp. 86-109
Author(s):  
Kehinde Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
West African ◽  
African Region ◽  
The West ◽  
Political Will ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
West African Region

The judgments of the ECOWAS Court, which are final and immediately binding, are vital for the realisation of ECOWAS aims and objectives. The enforcement of its judgments is particularly important in the case of individuals whose enjoyment of fundamental human rights, as guaranteed under the ECOWAS Community laws, is dependent on effective enforcement. Yet, an existential puzzling paradox emanates through a poor record in the implementation of the ECOWAS Court's judgments. This problem, which is not limited to the West African region deserves scrutiny and concrete proposals. Legal and political considerations surface in assessing the existence of this paradox, and despite the lack of a consistent political will, to implement the decisions of ECOWAS Court relevant judicial actors have roles to play. National courts could take a bolder approach in complementing the work of the ECOWAS Court. The ECOWAS Court itself could put in place concrete mechanisms and adopt certain practices to address this poor record of non-implementation. It is yet to be seen how substantive mechanisms would work in practice.

SOURCES OF THE LAW OF THE ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES (ECOWAS)

2001 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunday Babalola Ajulo
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
West African ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Member States ◽  
Community Court ◽  
Legal Problems ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
The Law

Articles 6(e) and 15(1–4) of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty (1993) provide for the establishment of a Court of Justice of the Community. These provisions should, however, be read along with those of the Protocol on the Community Court of Justice initialled in 1991. Attempts have been made to analyse various aspects of the institutions of the Community, including the Court of Justice. While Bankole Thompson examined the legal problems of the economic integration in West Africa, Kofi Oteng Kufuor attempted to look at the Court of Justice from the angle of compliance with its judgments by member states. Denakin, for his part, appraised generally the prospects of the Court.

The ECOWAS Court of Justice as an Investment Tribunal

2018 ◽  
pp. 95-117
Author(s):  
Matthew Happold ◽  
Relja Radović
Keyword(s):  
West African ◽  
Arbitral Tribunal ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Member States ◽  
Foreign Investors ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Court Of Justice

Abstract This article considers the extent to which foreign investors in Member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) might be able to use the ECOWAS Court of Justice to protect their investments against actions of their host States. It does so taking into account the ECOWAS Supplementary Act on Investments and the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice on, in particular, the extent of its substantive jurisdiction. Although it is not suggested that the Court of Justice would be better forum than an international arbitral tribunal, it is argued that it has considerable advantages over national courts.

The preliminary ruling procedure at the court of justice of the European Union and transformation of European anti-discrimination law

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (3) ◽  
pp. 66-72
Author(s):  
Elena Sorokina
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Essential Feature ◽  
Preliminary Ruling ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Judicial Cooperation ◽  
Member States ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Eu

The preliminary ruling procedure is an essential feature of the EU legal system, which is a unique cooperation tool as part of the dialogue between the Court of Justice of the EU and national courts of the Member States. Its main purpose is to ensure uniform interpretation and application of the provisions of EU law with all Member States and to preserve the uniformity of the European legal system. The continuous use by national courts of the Member States of the mechanism of preliminary ruling and constructive inter-judicial cooperation, the Court of Justice has developed an extremely extensive case law on the prohibition of discrimination and with the result to introduce substantial changes in European anti-discrimination law.The preliminary rulings of the Court of Justice have shown its inclination to expand notions of what constitutes discrimination and in most cases the Court prompt by the desire to interpret the provisions of European law so as to ensure the full effectiveness of the law, as well as a willingness to promote and strengthen protection against discrimination in Europe. While the protection against discrimination on some grounds is stronger than others, however, the preliminary rulings of the Court of Justice are important contribution to the transformation of anti-discrimination law, promote change in the national legislation of the Member States and provide the more effective protection of human rights in general.

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