Senegal Designates Authority For Enforcement Of ECOWAS Court’s Decisions

The Republic of Senegal has joined ECOWAS Member States that have designated their national authority for the enforcement of the decisions of the ECOWAS Court in line with the provision of the Article 24 of the 2005 Supplementary Protocol on the Court.

According to a press statement by the Community Court, the Republic of Senegal, in a letter conveyed the country’s decision to the Court, that its Ministry of Justice will serve as the competent national authority for the enforcement as provided under Article 24 of the Protocol.

Each Member State is expected to enforce the Court’s decision in accordance with its applicable Rules of Civil Procedure.

The article vests Member States with responsibility for the designation of such an authority in each Member State. With this development, the Republic of Senegal has become the 10th Member State to designate such authority.

The President of the Court, Justice Edward Amoako Asante welcomed the development as a “critical step in addressing the vexed issue of the poor enforcement of the decisions of the Court which stands at 106 according to the records available at the Court.”

He said that another 11 unenforced decisions are outstanding against the ECOWAS Commission and institutions of the Community.

“Designation of the national authority is an important first step in the process of enforcement and we need to remain engaged with the Member States to resolve the knotty issues that have also contributed to the low rate of enforcement, explained Justice Asante.’’

The President of the Community Court expressed optimism that the remaining five Member States, that have not designated their national authority, will key into the current momentum generated in favour of designation, starting with the 2019 decision by the Republic of Ghana to designate its enforcement authority.

Senegal joins the other Member States of Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Togo, The Gambia and Niger that have designated their national authorities.

The letters conveying the decision of the last two was received by the Court in May 2023.

Confidence Okwuchi