ECOWAS Court, AfCHPR join forces to foster human rights

From DEUS NGOWI in Arusha

THE ECOWAS Court of Justice and the African Court on Human and People’s Rights (AfCHPR) have pledged to work together to improve human rights in the continent.

The ECOWAS Court of Justice delegation that was led by its President, Justice Jérôme Traoré (pictured) culminated the visit by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AfCHPR under its President, Justice Sylvain Ore.
Through the MoU, which is for an initial three-year period, both courts committed to strengthening their already good relationship and to that end, agreed to a number of initiatives to enhance the discharge of their respective mandates, through concerted implementation of programmes that would enable them contribute towards improving human rights in the continent.
In a joint communiqué, the two courts, one based in Abuja, Nigeria and the other in Arusha, Tanzania, mentioned some areas identified for cooperation as staff exchanges, reciprocal representation, knowledge and information sharing, research and capacity building within the framework of the constitutive instruments of both courts.
The ECOWAS delegation that was composed of five other judges and senior registry staff, including the chief registrar, undertook a working visit to the AfCHPR from 26 February to 1 March this year.
In order to operationalise their commitment in the areas of capacity building and training, the two courts agreed to jointly mobilise resources for the execution of joint projects. The two courts also agreed to establish a Joint Committee charged with the institutionalisation of consultations and ensuring the effectiveness of their cooperation.
The staff from the registries of the two courts also met at the technical level to exchange views on how to effectively provide technical and judicial support to the courts. The delegation of the ECOWAS Court also visited two international tribunals based in Arusha that is - the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) and the UN-Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (UN-MICT).