President Gbeho Urges Speedy Compliance With Decisions of ECOWAS

5 July 2011
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Economic Community of West African States (Abuja)
press release

Abuja — The ECOWAS Commission will put in place measures to facilitate the speedy implementation of the pronouncements of the Community Court of Justice, President of the Commission, His Excellency James Victor Gbeho, assured in Abuja on Monday, 4th July 2011. "It is rather unfortunate that some judgements made by the Court have been observed more in breach," the President said at a ceremony at the Commission's headquarters to mark the Court's 10th Anniversary. The Community Court of Justice was set up in 2001 with the mandate to promote democratic values, good governance and respect for human rights in the region.

To ensure the attainment of this objective, President Gbeho said the Commission would work closely with officials of the Court "in tracking the implementation of previous judgements and make appropriate recommendations on how we can work together to enhance the rate of compliance". Commenting on access to the Court, he acknowledged that while improvements have been recorded over the years, "there is still much work to be done as most litigants in the region are still ignorant of the functions of the Community Court." To this end, the President called on the Bar Associations in Member States to ensure that their members took advantage of the regional legal structure, noting that continued inadequate access to the Court would narrow the avenue for the protection and promotion of the rights of the citizens, a situation that could reverse the gains of political stability and human security. He challenged members of the Bar, the civil society and community groups, to be innovative and proactive in popularizing the Court among the people of the region and utilizing it in enforcing human and civil rights of their clients.

President Gbeho described the Court as "a dependable partner of the ECOWAS Commission in the restoration of peace to most parts of the region by giving judgements unfavourable to dictators, corrupt people, human rights violators and other categories of people and institutions involved in acts inimical to regional growth and development". "It is my hope that the region will never again witness any unconstitutional change of government in our Member States", he added. Also addressing the gathering, Nigeria's Federal Attorney-General and Justice Minister, Mohammed Bello Adoke, said the anniversary celebration was an opportunity to assess the performance of the Court over the last 10 years. He observed that the Court had grown from "a relatively infant institution in 2001 to a robust and important organ of ECOWAS", nothing that the impact of the Court on the people of the region was discernable from the increased number of cases filed before it and the intricate issues that the Court has had to grapple with over the years. The Minister, however, noted that the Court had been prevented from functioning optimally in recent times because it had been "over burdened with matters that could easily have been handled by domestic courts". He therefore appealed to litigants to exhaust the remedies provided under domestic jurisdictions before heading to the Court.

On behalf of the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Goodluck Jonathan, the Minister renewed Nigeria's continued cooperation with the Court, respect for the decisions handed down by the Court and the timely discharge of her obligations as a Member State. The President of the Community Court, Awa Nana Daboya, informed the gathering that Guinea, Niger and Nigeria had notified the Court of their appointment of the relevant Authorities for the enforcement of the judgements of the Court. She traced the history of the Court and paid homage to ECOWAS' founding fathers for their vision in setting up the institution for the protection and promotion of citizens' rights. Justice Daboya highlighted the importance of the role of the Community Court to the realization of the ECOWAS citizen-oriented Vision 2020 agenda that will facilitate regional integration and development. In his goodwill message, Dr. Abdullahi Shehu, Director-General of the ECOWAS Inter-Governmental Group against Money Laundering and Terror Financing in West Africa (GIABA), urged the Court to consider expansion to include criminal jurisdiction. He pledged GIABA's commitment to the strengthening of cooperation with the Court as part of efforts towards deepening integration. There were also goodwill messages from by the West African Bar Association, the West African Civil Society Association and the Nigerian Bar Association, among others. The Court's anniversary is being celebrated under the general theme, "The Community Court of Justice ECOWAS: An Assessment of Ten Years of Service to Community Law, Perspectives", while the inaugural session is themed, "Democracy, Good Governance and Human Rights".

Read the original article on Ecowas.

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