ECOWAS Court strengthens reparations, enforcement

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice has resolved to set new guidelines for the award of reparations by the court.

The decision was one of the outcomes of the just concluded 11th Judicial Retreat for Judges of the court held in Goshen City, Nasarawa State.

Judges of the sub-regional court said articulating clear guidelines for the award of reparations will help to resolve the existing disparities in the quantum of awards in similar situations depending on the panel hearing the case.

The presentation titled ‘Guidelines for the Award of Reparations by the Court,’ was made by Mrs. Franca Ofor, a Principal Legal Officer in the Research and Documentation Department of the court.

In the paper, she described reparation as the measure taken to remedy an injury or harm caused by a violation and aimed at relieving or alleviating a victim’s pain, removing the cause and restoring a victim back to his/her original state.

“Reparation also helps to dissuade or prevent future violations/harms by requiring changes in the laws, policies, or systems that create the enabling environment for the violations,” she added.

She explained that reparation should start with the identification of the victim while the specificities should depend on the circumstance of each case where the evidence of injury or prejudice suffered has been established.

Relying on the general principle of law and the legal basis for reparation which states that where there is injury, there must be a remedy (Ubi Jus Ibi Remedium), she identified the five internationally recognized forms of reparations to include restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition.

Speaking earlier at the inauguration of the week-long retreat on July 3, the President of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, Justice Edward Amoako Asante, called for the extension of tenure for judges in the court to seven years from the current four years.

“The tenure of judges is four years, before the judge settles it is about six months and six months before he leaves he cannot settle cases, so effectively judges just work for three years. But when the tenure is made seven years just like most of the international and regional courts, you have a very long time to make the jurisprudence of the court solid and stable,” he said.

The president explained that the court has made the submission to the West African countries’ regional body, the Authority of Heads of States and the Council of Ministers for the necessary amendment.

He said the workshop was aimed at improving case management system and clear guidelines that will assist judges, rapporteurs, research and language divisions in their various functions, which according to him will facilitate speedy administration of justice as well as minimizing delays.

The president noted that the court is presently collaborating with the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague in the area of rules and guidelines for international best practices that enable judges to sit in smaller panels and attend to more cases.

Also speaking at the closing ceremony of the court, the Vice President, Justice Gberi-Be Ouattara, said the court must take unanimous decisions and stand by them, and not different stands depending on the panel.

Also speaking on the enforcement of judgments by the court, Nigeria’s Justice Dupe Atoki said data from the court showed that member states have reached 50 percent implementation of judgements.

“We have come to the realisation that we must segment the enforceable judgments away from declaratory judgments and then be able to situate the implementation,” she said.

She also spoke on the court’s decision to set up mechanism for legal aid to indigent citizens of member states as well as protocols and rules for individuals to make complaints against member states.

The ECOWAS Court, moderated by five panellists, Justices Asante, Ouattara, Keikua Bangura, Dupe Atoki, and Januaria Moreira Costa, treated case management themes such as: lodgment, processing, and service of applications representation before the court; written and oral procedure; and special forms of procedure.

Speaking on the theme, ‘Improving the Case Management System of the ECOWAS Court’, the Chief Registrar of the court, Tony Anene-Maidoh, said the court can only achieve its goal of speedy administration of justice through efficient case management system.

Following an earlier paper on Amicus Curiae by its registrar, Mr Aboubakar Diakite, the court acknowledged its value as it has featured in its jurisprudence since the third case it receive.

Diakite had in the presentation traced the history of the concept, a Latin phrase that means ‘friend of the court’ and consisting of an individual or organization invited by the court to proffer neutral submission on a complex legal or specialized aspect of the law but whose opinion is not binding on the court.

While the court acknowledged that although Amicus Curiae was not explicitly provided in the texts of the court, it was an acceptable and useful judicial practice in many common law countries.