The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice ended its external sessions in Accra yesterday after attending to a total of 58 cases.
The court, presided over by Justice Edward Amoako Asante, alongside Justices Gberi-be Ouatara, Dupe Atoki, Keikura Bangura, and Januaria Tavares Costa, during the two-week 11th external session delivered 20 judgments, the highest the court has done since the inception of its external sessions.
Speaking at a closing ceremony of the session, Justice Amoako, once again bemoaned the failure of member states to enforce the judgments of the court, which he said currently stands at 30 per cent.
He said despite Article 24(3) of the Supplementary Protocol on the court providing that each member state shall appoint a national authority for the purpose of receiving and processing the execution of the court’s judgment, only six countries have complied with the provision.
This, he said, poses a challenge for enforcement of a majority of the court’s judgment, a situation which remains unsatisfactory.
“The challenge of enforcement is not specific to the ECOWAS Court but common to most international courts and Tribunals even though some fare better than others. This is mainly because like other international courts, the ECOWAS Court does not have any direct coercive power over non-compliant member states,” Justice Asante indicated.
He stated that the main challenge with the enforcement of judgments is the lack of domestication of the Revised Treaty, the foundational document for the Community, adding that the court has to work with member states to fashion out a new approach to the enforcement of decisions because of the intervening issues.
“Undeniably, resolving will require close collaboration with national courts and institutions of member states in order to fashion a workable formula that responds to the procedures of the court and states in order to allow the court to continue to play its critical role in the ECOWAS integrations project,” Justice Amoako added.
Ghana’s Chief Justice, Justice Anin Yeboah, called on the court to consider the ideas of expanding the number of judges at the court as well as other ideas tabled before it during the external session.
Vice President of the court, Justice Gberi-be Ouatara, in a vote of thanks expressed gratitude for what he described as a legendary hospitality extended to the court and its staff during the external session.
He also thanked President Akufo-Addo for the assistance he gave to the court, the actions he took and continues to take to ensure the effective operation of the court.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak