ECOWAS Court delegation meeting stakeholders in Monrovia
Monrovia, Liberia (PANA) - A high-level delegation of the ECOWAS Court of Justice based in Abuja, Nigeria, on Monday began a series of meetings with justice stakeholders at the start of a weeklong sensitization campaign on its function in Liberia.
The Court will engage its “critical stakeholders,” mainly judges, lawyers, law students, government officials, representatives of civil society and women organisations, among others.
Led by Justice Edward Asante, President of the Court, the delegation arrived in Monrovia at the weekend on the second leg of the Court’s regional outreach programme that was launched in neighbouring Sierra Leone on March 7, 2019.
The Court already undertakes sensitisation campaigns as well as radio and TV programmes in four Member States each year, enabling it to acquaint the citizens with the mandate, jurisdiction and practice and procedures of the Court as well as the process for filing cases.
It undertakes external court sessions through which it not only enhances visibility for the Court but also brings justice closer to the citizens, particularly for indigent citizens, a media statement said in Monrovia.
While in the country, the delegation, which also includes judges and staff of the Registry, Research and Documentation Department of the Court, will undertake a sensitisation campaign, Town Hall and Judicial dialogue with the country’s judges to engage them in order to improve synergy in delivering justice in the two jurisdictions.
The sensitisation component will be attended by members of the country’s legal Bar Association, officials of the Immigration, Customs and Police services, journalists, representatives of civil society, academia, including deans of the faculties of law, ECOWAS National Office, Ambassadors of ECOWAS Member States, students, women groups and officials from the Ministry of Justice.
A Special Forum for lawyers and law students will bring together lawyers in both public and private practice, deans of the law schools, law lecturers and law students from universities and law schools in Liberia.
“This is the second leg of outreach by the Court which has been made more expansive in response to the demands from the stakeholders for a more visible Court and in the case of Liberia help mitigate the disappointment of a 2017 campaign for that country that suffered an abrupt cancellation for reasons outside the control of the Court,” Justice Asante said.
Moreover, the President said the campaign will also enable the Court respond to a request for such a campaign by the Monrovia-based ECOWAS Women Organisation on increasing access to the Court in response to the myriad of human rights issues in the country, including gender-based violence, early and forced marriages and extra judicial killings.
He said the third leg of the campaign is scheduled for Cape Verde in June 2019, and is evidence of the Court’s determination to reinforce its engagement with the citizens in line with the region’s vision 2020 for a citizen-driven Community.
Included in the campaign is an advocacy component involving visits to government officials of the host Member State, which will provide an opportunity to discuss the role of the Court in promoting regional peace and security through the exercise of its human rights mandate, and the challenges militating against its effectiveness.
-0- PANA PTK/AR 18Mar2019
