As Sierra Leone and Cape Verde Judges tenure comes to an end… ECOWAS Authority maintains Ghana, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire Judges pending…

By zainab.joaque@awokonewspaper.sl

SIERRA LEONE, Freetown – The Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) has decided to maintain three Judges from the current College of Judges of the Community Court of Justice.

Considering that the four-year tenure of the current College of Judges expires on 31^st July, 2022, the Authority has decided to maintain the Judges from Ghana, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire following the sanction imposed on three of the countries that were supposed to succeed these countries.

According to the Authority, they are aware of the difficulties relating to the renewal of the members of the ECOWAS Court of Justice following the Community’s sanctions against Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali to which Judges’ positions have been allocated for the 2022-2026 term.

In their desire to facilitate the functioning of the Court of Justice in its task of administering justice in the Community they decided to extend the term of Justice Edward Amoako Asante (Ghana), Justice Gberi-be Outtara (Cote d’Ivoire) and Justice Dupe Atoki (Nigeria).

The Judges nationals from these three countries will be maintained in office until the appointment and entry into office of their successors.

Justices Kekura Bangura and Januaria Tavares Silva Moreira Costa from Sierra Leone and Cape Verde, will be replaced by their peers from the same jurisdiction.

The Court is composed of five independent Judges who are jurists of high moral character and who are appointed by the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Community for a four-year non-renewable term in line with the terms for statutory appointees of the Community.

Judges are required to have experience of over 20 years and other qualifications as specified in Article 3 of Protocol A/P1/7/91. The Authority allocates the vacant positions based on some rotational criteria to Members States and only candidates from the Member States to which positions have been allocated can apply and be interviewed for appointment to the Court. ZIJ/20/7/2022