The
President of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, Honorable Justice Maria do
Ceu Silva Monteiro, has asked ministers responsible for regional integration in
West Africa to assist the court in facilitating the creation of focal points
for the implementation of the court’s decisions in their countries.
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“Enforcement is the major challenge because most of the member states have not designated their focal point for the enforcement of the decisions of the court,'' she said, while answering questions from the members of the ECOWAS council of ministers on Saturday, 16th May 2015 during their 74th meeting in Accra, Ghana.
Under Article 6 (4) of the supplementary protocol of the court, member states are required to ‘’determine” and communicate to the court, the ‘competent national authority for the purpose of receipt and processing of the execution’ of the decisions of the court.
The President said only Nigeria has communicated its national focal point as required under the 2005 supplementary protocol.
She also told the ministers that some 16 decisions has been taken by the14-year old court since the assumption of duty of the seven new judges, comprising 12 judgments and 4 rulings.
The president also spoke of the value of the implementation of the decisions of the court to ECOWAS integration, saying that it would help create a greater consciousness of the role of the court, as an important pillar of the integration project with the mandate to interpret community instruments, and the protection of the human rights of the community citizens.
