Tema-Ghana, July 6, GNA – The Judges of the Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS (ECOWAS Court) and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Court) ended the second Judicial Dialogue in Arusha, Tanzania, with a commitment to protect human rights.
The Dialogue was attended by Judges of both courts and co-chaired by the President of the African Court, Lady Justice Imani Doud Aboud, and the President of the ECOWAS Court, Justice Edward Amoako Asante.
In a paper obtained by the Ghana News Agency in Tema, the Dialogue was aimed at reinforcing the relations between the two Courts in the protection of human and people’s rights and evaluating the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on March 1, 2018.
The two Courts also discussed a wide range of issues relating to their respective mandates as well as discussions on their respective jurisprudence in the field of human rights; their overlapping jurisdictions; their structures, and appointment procedures and tenure.
Other issues deliberated on were funding, access to the two Courts, admissibility of cases, challenges to compliance with their decisions, and mechanisms put in place for the implementation of their decisions, among others.
The Legal staff of the two Courts also held a working session to share experiences and exchange ideas on matters of common interest, in particular, case management, drafting of judgements, legal aid, enforcement of judgements, as well as challenges faced, and measures taken to resolve the challenges identified.
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 of the MOU, recommended its renewal, and made proposals with a view to ensuring that the successor MOU is more effective and implementable.
The two Courts renewed the MOU for a further period of five years, effective June 24, 2023. Under the new MOU, the two Courts have committed to strengthening their existing good relations and to this end, have agreed on a few initiatives aimed at improving the execution of their respective mandates.
The areas of cooperation identified include staff exchanges, representation, joint training, knowledge and information sharing, and publication of respective jurisprudence, research, and capacity building within the framework of the constituent instruments of the two Courts.
The two Courts also adopted a five-year Plan of Action for the effective implementation of the MOU.
The ECOWAS Court delegation, accompanied by some Judges of the African Court, visited the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals and the East African Court of Justice, also based in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania.
