President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to respect judgements of the ECOWAS Court of Justice.
He said the Court has a strategic role to play in ECOWAS’s integration process and that it was important for member states to respect and obey the judgements of the Court.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the External Court Session of the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Accra, President Akufo-Addo told member states that complying with the treaty obligations of the Court would build public confidence in the judgement of the Court.
“Unless member-states complied with the Judgements of the court, it will be difficult to build public confidence in the Court,” The President emphasized.
He, therefore, called on member states who were yet to appoint their competent national authorities for the enforcement of the judgements of the Court to respectfully do so without further delay.
Ghana on her part has designated the Office of the Attorney-General as her national Authority, he said.
President Akufo-Addo said although ECOWAS had chalked many successes since its establishment in 1975, it was important that the regional bloc focuses on the establishment of a community legal order and harmonised the legal and judicial systems of member states.
National sovereignties, the ECOWAS Chair stated should not be an impediment to the realisation of the community’s unity objectives adding that all that was needed was the necessary political will to do so.
President Akufo-Addo who spoke on the importance of the judiciary in the sustainability of constitutional rule in the bloc said, Ghana had placed a higher premium on the court system and the rule of law.
He said the country’s Judiciary is a crucial arm of government which demonstrates the resolve of Ghanaians that “there cannot be rule of law without a strong and independent judicial system.”
Ghana’s Constitution, President Akufo-Addo indicated, had decreed that the Judiciary has the final say in all matters of the breach of the law—civil and criminal—including the exclusive jurisdiction to interpret and enforce the basic laws of the land.
The country’s Constitution, according to the President, had conferred onerous responsibilities on the judiciary, to protect individual liberties and fundamental human rights of citizens, act as the arbiter in disputes between the state and the citizen, as well as serve as the bulwark for the promotion of the ordinary development of the nation and for the defends of the liberties and rights of the Ghanaian people.
Likewise, the ECOWAS Court of Justice is the guarantor of the ECOWAS Community norms—that must ensure the observance of law and justice in the interpretation and application of the ECOWAS revised treaty, protocols, conventions, and supplementary acts of the community.
It has the legal responsibility to settle disputes on the rights between member states, or between institutions of the community arising from the ECOWAS legal text.
In addition, it is spelt out in the protocol of the court that the Authority of Heads of States and Government is empowered under Article 9(7) of the protocol of the Court as a mandate to grant the court the power to adjudicate on any specific dispute that they may be referred to the Court other than those specified in the protocol.
As a result, the ECOWAS Chair told the Court that it must stand ready at all times to resume additional responsibilities.
President Akufo-Addo said there were concerns of many stakeholders, regarding the reduction of the number of judges of the Court from seven as provided for by the protocol, to five.
He said it would be appropriate that a second look is taken at that decision in order to review the merits of restoring the original composition of the court.
President Akufo-Addo expressed worry about the insecurity and terrorist activities in many parts of the region, as well as the unconstitutional overthrow of democratic governments in three of the member states—Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso.
He said in spite of suspending these countries from the activities of ECOWAS, it would continue in its untiring efforts to restore democratic rule in those affected countries.
The President commended the management of the Court led by Justice Edward Amoako-Asante for holding the 2022 external session of the Court in Accra. This is the second time an event of the ECOWAS Court has been held in Ghana within the past five years.
The opening ceremony is a key activity in the annual work program of the Court Article 26 (2) of the Protocol on the Court empowers the Court to leave its base in Abuja, Nigeria to sit in the territory of any other member state, where the facts and circumstances of the case so warrant.
By coming to Accra, the Court would give Ghanaians the opportunity to witness the Court in session, and to learn about its practices and procedures. In addition to the legal significance of the external court session, it would serve as an outreach program to sensitize Ghanaian citizens about the workings of the court.
Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD
