In his goodwill message at the opening ceremony of the ECOWAS Parliament 1st 2021 Ordinary Session ongoing in Abuja, the President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, Justice Edward Amoako Asante, said “as stakeholders, we must all rise to defend the integrity of the Court through the enforcement of its decisions as integration is impossible without s strong protection of human rights for which the citizens are the ultimate beneficiaries.”
Asante therefore pleaded with the parliamentarians to work swiftly on addressing the challenge of enforcing the decisions of the ECOWAS Court which he said if not addressed “could affect its capacity to effectively play its role in the integration process”.
He also added that “the court plays a strategic role in our regional integration process as it assists Member States to build a culture of democracy and good governance by helping to strengthen human rights protection and respect for the rule of law.”
He further said that the community’s court is committed to these objectives, under Article 4(g) of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty which says that the recognition, promotion and protection of human and peoples’ rights should be done in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Asante also stressed that said that “under Article 24 of the 2005 Supplementary Act on the court, stated that Members States are required to designate the competent national authority for the enforcement of the decisions of the court.”
In this regard, he said that only six (6) member states: Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria and Togo, have designated their focal points. “We therefore need the support of our Honourable ECOWAS Parliamentarians, particularly those from member states that have not done so, to facilitate this enforcement process by ensuring that their states set up the appropriate mechanisms for the enforcement of the decisions of the court,” Justice Edward Amoako Asante.
