ECOWAS Court, Ghana’s Judiciary Collaborate To Promote Human Rights

The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice has made plans to collaborate with the Ghanaian judiciary and other institutions of the West African sub-region to strengthen the rule of law and protection of human rights.

Indications to this development emerged when President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, Hon. Justice Edward Amoako Asante, paid a courtesy call on the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana, Her Ladyship Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo.

A statement issued recently by the communications Division of the Court, said the visit, which took place on Thursday, 21 December 2023, in Accra, enabled Justice Asante to congratulate Ghana’s Chief Justice on her recent appointment and to discuss matters of mutual interest between the ECOWAS Court and Ghana’s judiciary.

In his remarks during the visit, Justice Edward Asante extended his warm congratulations to Justice Torkornoo on her elevation to the high office of Chief Justice of Ghana and affirmed the commitment of the ECOWAS Court to work collaboratively with Ghana’s judiciary for the greater well-being of West Africa.

On her part, Justice Torkornoo expressed her gratitude to Justice Asante and the ECOWAS Court for the honor of the visit and the goodwill message. She noted that Ghana’s judiciary is committed to supporting the ECOWAS Court to discharge its mandate, and that pending legislative changes to Ghana’s civil procedure rules will enable effective enforcement of ECOWAS Court judgments. She added that the judiciary will explore administrative options that could aid in that effort.

She further expressed the hope for increased engagement to identify common ground between ECOWAS legal texts and national laws and the enhancement of the capacities of national court judges to apply and enforce these areas of law.

The deliberations during the visit also touched on the need for regional human rights instruments such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Maputo Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa to be domesticated to ensure their effective implementation.

Other senior judges of Ghana’s judiciary who were present at the meeting expressed the need for legal integration in the subregion to be strengthened through the teaching of ECOWAS and African Union law in law schools and urged the ECOWAS Court to support such effort.