ECOWAS Court

Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States
	Cour de Justicia de la Communauté économique des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (French); Tribunal de Justiça da Comunidade Económica dos Estados da África Ocidental (Portuguese)
Established	2001
Location	Abuja, Nigeria
Judge term length	4 years
Number of positions	5
Website	www.courtecowas.org
President
Currently	Edward Amoako Asante
Vice-President
Currently	Gberi-bè Ouattara
Dean
Currently	Hamèye Founé Mahalmadane

The ECOWAS Court of Justice is an organ of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional integration community of 15 member states in Western Africa. It was created pursuant to the provisions of Articles 6 and 15 of the Revised Treaty of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).[1]

Constituting documents

Although ECOWAS was founded in 1975 by the Treaty of Lagos (ECOWAS Treaty),[2] the Court of Justice was not created until the adoption of the Protocol on the Community Court of Justice in 1991.[3] Additionally, the ECOWAS Revised Treaty of 1993 established the Court of Justice was an institution of ECOWAS.[4] The Protocol was amended twice; once in 2005,[5] and once in 2006.[6] Notably, the 2005 Supplementary Protocol expanded the Court's jurisdiction to include human rights claims by individuals.

Jurisdiction

The Court has jurisdiction over four general types of disputes: (1) those relating to the interpretation, application, or legality of ECOWAS regulations, (2) those that arise between ECOWAS and its employees, (3) those relating to liability for or against ECOWAS, and (4) those that involve a violation of human rights committed by a member state.[7]

Organization

Judges

Hon. Justice Edward Amoako Asante (Ghana), Hon. Justice Gberi-bè Ouattara (Côte d’Ivoire), Honorable Justice Dupe Atoki (Nigeria), Honorable Justice Keikura Bangura (Sierra Leone), Honorable Justice Januária Tavares Silva Moreira Costa (Cape Verde)

Cases

The Court's docket has been limited, with no more than two dozen judgments rendered annually.[8] However, since 2005, when the Court's jurisdiction was expanded to include human rights claims, the vast majority of cases decided by the Court concern human rights.[9]

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References

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[1] "CCJ Official Website". Retrieved 2019-07-10.

[2] Treaty of the Economic Community of West African States (adopted 28 May 1975, entered into force 1 August 1995) 1010 U.N.T.S. 17.

[3] Protocol A/P.1/7/91 on the Community Court of Justice.

[4] ECOWAS Revised Treaty Archived 2007-06-22 at the Wayback Machine (adopted 24 July 1993) 35 I.L.M. 660.

[5] Supplementary Protocol A/SP.1/01/05 Amending the Preamble and Articles 1, 2, 9, 22 and 30 of Protocol A/P.1/7/91 relating to the Community Court of Justice and Article 4 Paragraph 1 of the English Version of the Said Protocol.

[6] Supplementary Protocol A/SP.2/06/06 Amending Article 3 Paragraphs 1, 2 and 4, Article 4 Paragraphs 1, 3 and 7 and Article 7 Paragraph 3 of the Protocol on the Community Court of Justice

[7] "Jurisdiction of The Community Court of Justice". ECOWAS Court. Retrieved 2015-01-21.

[8] "List of Decided Cases from 2004 Till Date". ECOWAS Court. Retrieved 2015-01-21.

[9] Karen J. Alter, Laurence R. Heifer, and Jacqueline R. McAllister (2003). "A New International Human Rights Court for West Africa: The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice". American Journal of International Law. 107: 737–779.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)