ECOWAS Court Waits on Council of Head of States for Enforcement of Court’s Judgments

By: Michael Mike

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court said it is waiting on the Commission’s Council of Head of States to put in place sanctions that would ensure members of the sub regional bloc enforce the judgments of the court.

Many who believe the court has taken giant strides in taking informed decisions on cases brought before it especially in area of violation of human rights in member countries, however lamented that the non-enforcement of the decisions have been the major challenges.

Answering questions from journalists on the sidelines of the Annual Judges Retreat of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court on Thursday in Suleja, Niger State, the Chief Registrar of the Court, Chief Registrar of ECOWAS Court, Dr.Yaouza Ouro-Sama said: “Supplementary Act of 2012 have defined legal regime of sanctions for member states that have not been complying with court decisions but as you know within the legal framework of ECOWAS, it is only the council of head of states that takes decisions especially sanctions against member states and we just got an opportunity to present the status of enforcement before council of ministers and we are yet to do a second presentation, in December I believe the council of ministers would take it up to the council of head of states and would take a decision to ensure member states enforce our decisions.”

He argued that the court has been effectively as notable decisions have been made and that the forced.

He said: “Some of the judgments of the court are enforced by the community institutions. It is one thing to pronounce a judgment and another thing to get it enforced.

“We are making a lot of efforts to sensitize member states and community institutions so that the rate of enforcement of court decisions will increase, but I can tell you that within the last two years we have noticed significant increase of the rate of judgments of the court. We believe by continuing in that trend of engaging member states and community institutions we would get most of our decisions enforced.”

The President of the Court, Ricardo Cláudio Monteiro Gonçalves who declared open the Retreat while acknowledging that this is the first Judges’s retreat, after the judicial one organized by the new Management since its election, said the objectives of the retreat is to consider and validate a number of draft texts that are essential to the smooth operation of the Court.

He said: The Honourable Judges will discuss and validate the draft strategy on arbitration, amendment proposals on the Protocols of the Court, the draft Instructions to the Chief Registrar and Practice direction, and finally proposed Policies on contract and Library.”

He called on all participants for an active participation in order to ensure that the sessions are interactive, and asked for the setting up of a Committee saddled with the responsibility of following up on the implementation of recommendations from the Judges’ retreats and subsequent brief the Management periodically.”

ECOWAS Court Waits on Council of Head of States for Enforcement of Court’s Judgments

ECOWAS COURT PRESIDENT PLEDGES TO IMPLEMENT ROADMAP FOR IMPROVED EFFICIENCY IN THE OPERATIONS OF THE COURT

By: Michael Mike

Honourable President Ricardo Cláudio Monteiro Gonçalves has expressed his commitment to the implementation of the resolutions from the three-day Judicial Retreat of the ECOWAS Court of Justice that concluded on 27 November 2024 at Niger State, Nigeria.

President Gonçalves made the statement in his remarks during the closing ceremony of the Judicial Retreat. “Over the last three days, we discussed important issues and proposed recommendations which have been adopted for implementation,” he said.

He added that measures will be put in place to monitor the progress of the implementation process to ensure resolved issues are not brought for reconsideration at next year’s retreat.

He also said that status of implementation of the recommendations from past retreats would be evaluated and actions taken where necessary, to ensure smooth implementation for enhanced performance of the Court.

Participants including the judges, directors and staff examined and proposed recommendations on various sub-themes of the retreat including implementation of writ of execution in member states; standardising the rulings and orders made in open court; discrepancies between the common law and civil law practices on the format of interlocutory applications and motions.

They also discussed modalities and best practices for the translation of decisions of the court, and guidelines on collaboration between research and judges’ chambers.

In his vote of thanks, Honourable Vice-President of the Court, Justice Sengu Mohamed Koroma commended the participants for their remarkable professionalism and teamwork. “The success of this retreat is a reflection of both teamwork and respect for the legal profession manifested in the respect for views of others. We have just started a journey towards setting standards for the Court that will make it operate optimally as a judicial institution,” he said.

The 2024 Judicial Retreat was held under the theme: “Judicial Case Management: Relation Between the Office of the Honourable President, Honourable Judges, Registry Department, and Legal Research & Documentation Department,” The judicial retreat is an important activity of the Court aimed at improving the Court’s efficiency and effectiveness as the principal legal organ of the ECOWAS Community.

ECOWAS COURT PRESIDENT PLEDGES TO IMPLEMENT ROADMAP FOR IMPROVED EFFICIENCY IN THE OPERATIONS OF THE COURT

VP Shettima Leaves For Abidjan, To Attend SIREXE 2024 Opening Ceremony

By: Our Reporter

Vice President Kashim Shettima, Wednesday morning, departed Abuja for Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire to attend the opening ceremony of the International Exhibition of Extractive and Energy Resources (SIREXE) 2024 conference.

The SIREXE conference is an international event organised by the Government of Côte d’Ivoire that focuses on “Policies and Strategy for the Sustainable Development of the Extractive and Energy Industries“.

The conference will be held from November 27 to December 2, 2024, at the Abidjan Exhibition Centre.

At the invitation of Côte d’Ivoire’s Vice President Tiémoko Meyliet Koné, VP Shettima will utilize the event to share Nigeria’s experience in the hydrocarbon exploration and production sectors.

The Vice President is expected to return to Abuja later today.

VP Shettima Leaves For Abidjan, To Attend SIREXE 2024 Opening Ceremony