ECOWAS Court holds regional integration session in Ghana

By Matthew Eloyi

In an effort to strengthen regional integration, the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice (CCJ) launched its first External Court Session on Monday in Accra, Ghana.

The ECOWAS Court’s Communications Division announced this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

In the statement, the President of the Court, Justice Edward Asante, stated that the program’s goal was to bring justice to the average man at the community’s grassroots.

According to Asante, the program was designed for destitute residents who could not afford the cost and logistics of traveling to the court’s seat in Abuja to seek justice.

In his words, “The session avails the court of the opportunity for judicial dialogue with national courts of member states and exposes lawyers and community citizens to the practice and procedure of a regional international court.

“It also enables the court to engage with high political authorities of the host member state and serves as a citizen outreach opportunity for the court on its competence, mandate as well as practice and procedure of the court.

“Article 26 (2) of the 1991 protocol of the court, allows the court to undertake such sessions in the territory of member state outside the headquarters of the court.”