AFRICAN COURT FOR CLOSER TIES WITH ECOWAS COURT

BY GRACE MACHA IN ARUSHA

The African Court of Human and People's Rights (AfCHPR) will forge closer ties with a judicial organ of west African states.

This follows a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) entered between it with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court.

Under the MoU which became effective last Sunday, the two legal facilities agreed to cooperate in a number of initiatives.

These include information sharing, joint training, research and capacity building within the framework of the constituent instruments of the two Courts.

Other areas of cooperation identified are staff exchanges, representation, joint training, knowledge sharing, publication of respective

jurisprudence.

The agreement is aimed to enable the two judicial organs in the continent to improve the execution of their respective mandates.

The two Courts also adopted a five -year Plan of Action for the effective implementation of the MoU which was signed by AfCHPR President Imani Aboud and ECOWAS Court President Justice Edward

Amoako Asante.

The two Courts also held a Judicial Dialogue; an exchange of views between the judges of the two courts aimed to assess their competence in interpretation of laws.

"The Dialogue was aimed at reinforcing the relationship between the two Courts in the protection of human and peoples’ rights", the Arusha-based Court said in a statement yesterday.

Matters discussed also included jurisprudence in the field of human rights,their overlapping jurisdictions and their structures.

Others were appointment procedures and tenure, funding access to the two Courts, admissibility of cases, challenges on compliance with their decisions.

The Legal Staff also undertook a review of the MOU between the two Courts which expired in March 2021 and identified challenges that impeded the effective implementation.

It was agreed that the visit to the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Nigeria by a high powered delegation of the African Court will enhance judicial cooperation between the two sides.

The Ecowas Court of Justice, which is the judicial organ of the  ECOWAS states, was founded in 1975 and charged with resolving disputes related to the bloc' treaty, protocols and conventions.

The AfCHPR, on the other hand is the judicial organ of the African Union.It was founded in 1998 and operationalized in 2006, relocating to Arusha the following year.