The ECOWAS Court of Justice (CCJ) and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) have pledged to strengthen jurisprudence through regular peer review mechanisms.
The two regional and continental judicial institutions made this known during a peer review meeting of their officials, when a delegation from the AfCHPR headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, visited the ECOWAS Court headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria.
In his welcome statement, Dr Yaouza Ouro-Sama, the Chief Registrar of the ECOWAS Court, who welcomed the delegation on behalf of the President of the Community Court, Justice Edward Asante, said the meeting was crucial and also an opportunity for sharing experiences between both sides.
He recalled that in June 2023, a delegation from the CCJ had visited the AfCHPR where an MoU was signed for setting up a Joint Committee for institutionalizing consultation and effective cooperation.
Dr Ouro-Sama called for the speedy implementation and regular dialogue in line with the MoU’s provision for periodic dialogue and discussions.
He said: “As a key observer of African jurisdictions, one may affirm without the risk of error the warm relationship between the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Community Court of Justice and the dialogue that is firmly installed between both parties.
“It is without doubt that the dialogue of judges has been firmly installed within the global justice system and this international trend to internationalize justice as a backing force to the law has seen the African courts affirming their role vanguard organizations.
“The ECOWAS Court of Justice has incontestably observed the dialogue of judges at the bilateral as well as the multilateral levels, the most important of which is the one held in Zanzibar in 2022 between the CCJ, AfCHPR and the Community Court of East African States.”
Enumerating the peer review meeting’s activities, Dr Ouro-Sama said it include discussions on jurisprudence developments in jurisdictions, as well as the role judicial actors and legal aid play.
Others, he said included capacity building, research, library and documentation, legal procedures, human resource management and supplies.
According to the Chief Registrar of the Community Court, the “galaxy of expert participants” would cross fertilize ideas for the overall benefits of the respective jurisdictions.
He added that the periodic exchange between the institutions will facilitate in the evolution of judicial practice post COVID-19, research methods, legal aid, language services, library and documentation services, human resource management and procurement.
In his remarks, Dr Segnonna Horace, who led the AfCHPR delegation, expressed optimism that the outcome and document on the exchange of the visit would be presented for adoption and implementation.
He applauded the emerging synergy between both Courts adding that such collaboration will enable them to surmount similar challenges facing them.
Dr Horace extolled the warm relationship existing between the CCJ and AfCHPR.
He said that the dialogue of judges had been affirmed globally, adding that AfCHPR was already a vanguard of justice at multilateral level.
Dr Horace, who is the Head of Legal Division of AfCHPR, said that the visit by the delegation of the Community Court to the Continental Court in Arusha Tanzania in June 2023 was a demonstration of the commitment of both sides to cooperation, which has further cemented dialogue among judges.
He said that one of the key objectives of the peer review meeting was to enable them arrive at resolutions and report back to the Joint Committee for necessary action.
The peer-to-peer exchange visit is part of a judicial cooperation agreement signed by both Courts that allows exchange of procedural and judicial information and is aimed at strengthening their complimentary roles for the benefit of the citizens of West Africa and Africa as a whole.
The identified areas of cooperation include staff exchanges, publications, particularly of their respective jurisprudence, reciprocal representation, knowledge and information sharing, research and training.
Hauwa M.
