Search
  1. Home
  2. Africa
  3. West Africa
  • News

ECOWAS plans subregional rights court

    ABIDJAN

    Justice Ministers of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decided on Tuesday to set up a regional court of justice.

    ‘The Guardian’ daily in Lagos reported on Wednesday that the proposed court, whose location is yet to be determined, would serve to protect nations’ rights and those of the people of the 16 ECOWAS countries.

    These are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo.

    Citizens would be able to sue their governments for perceived violation of their rights, while the institution’s brief will also include adjudicating inter-state hostilities.

    The decision to establish the court was taken at a meeting of ECOWAS justice ministers that ended on Tuesday in Abuja.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join