President of the ECOWAStates Community Court of Justice, Honourable Justice Edward Amoako Asante at the official opening its four day international conference, said the ECOWAS Court is not in competition with national courts, adding that the Court relies on the national courts for the enforcement of its judgments and is not in competition with national courts.
Hon. Justice Asante said: “The Court is not an appellate Court over national courts of Member States and that the Court does not review in abstracto, the national laws of Member States. We are therefore not in competition with the national courts.”
He said the ECOWAS Court is the primary legal organ of the Community and one of the main institutions of ECOWAS with a mandate to ensure the adherence to law and justice in the interpretation and application of the Treaties, Protocols and Conventions of the Institution and settling such disputes as may be referred to it in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty or between Member States.
He extended his profound appreciation to H.E President Julius Maada Bio, the government and people of the Republic of Sierra Leone, the Acting Chief Justices and Judges of the Member States, members of the joint technical committee for the warm hospitality and the collaboration for hosting the conference.
Statements were made by several personalities. Speaking on behalf of the First Deputy Speaker, the Fourth Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Billay Tunkara said the Court represents not only the “minds and hearts of judges, lawyers and other members of the legal profession, but also those of all ECOWAS citizens.”
He said the ECOWAS court remains the beacon of hope for those who feel they have been deprived of justice at national level and a firm protector of democracy.
The Speaker added that “it’s a symbol of our shared West African identity and common heritage, as nothing unities West Africans more than the feeling that we all belong to a community of values where fundamental rights should be upheld.”
Sierra Leone’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Timothy Musa Kabba said that with the West African region currently faced with terrorism, unconstitutional takeovers of governments, discrimination and inequality among others, justice remains the only natural therapy to the survival of the region’s peace, survival and stability.
The Acting Chief Justice of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Hon. Justice Nicholas C. Browne-Marke, thanked President Julius Maada Bio for not only acceding to the request made by ECOWAS to host the conference, but also for ensuring that the Judiciary of Sierra Leone, to whom he had delegated the responsibility for putting modalities in place for such hosting, was enabled and empowered in the truest sense to carry out the delegated responsibility.
He said having an institution as a court, hearing cases and handing down judgments is not enough, adding that there must be a mechanism in place which will ensure that these judgements are executed. Hon. Justice Browne-Marke blamed the reluctance to submit to the decisions of an international body on the absence of an appellate process for which he used the occasion to call on the ECOWAS Court of Justice to have an appellate court.
“We must take into consideration that one of the reasons why States are sometimes reluctant to submit to the decisions of an international body, might be the absence of an appellate process. This Conference after its four-day deliberations might wish to give due consideration to creation or establishing an appellate structure, so that the current Court’s decisions are not absolutely final and un-appealable,” the Chief Justice anticipated.
