The International Conference of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, Held in Freetown, Sierra Leone, from the 13th - 16th May, 2024.

Theme: ‘Enhancing the Role, Relevance and Effectiveness of the ECOWAS Court of Justice through the Strengthening of Synergies between the Court and National Stakeholders’.

Subtheme: ‘Strengthening Cooperation with the Media and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to Improve the Relevance and Effectiveness of the ECOWAS Court of Justice’.

By The Hon. Justice Dr. Abou Bhakarr M. Binneh-Kamara, J., LLB (Hons) (USL), BL (SLLS), MPA, Public Administration and Management (NU), M. PHIL Communications Law & Policy (FBC: USL), PH.D. Media & War Crimes Jurisprudence, University of Bedfordshire (England); PH.D. Candidate, Law Studies, University of Sussex (England), Justice of Sierra Leone’s Superior Court of Judicature and Dean of the Faculty of Law, Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone

    1.  Background and Context

Mr. Chairman, all protocols observed. My task in this conference is to speak on the subtheme: ‘Strengthening Cooperation with the Media and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to Improve the Relevance and Effectiveness of the ECOWAS Court’.  Prior to this historic conference, little or no attention was paid in the numerous papers presented at the various ECOWAS Court’s conferences, held between 2004 and 2023 on the media and CSOs’ role in communicating the relevance and effectiveness of the Court to strengthening cooperation with other stakeholders; and simultaneously projecting the human rights culture in the subregion. Let me commend the framers of the theme of this year’s conference for being thoughtful of the media and CSOs’ role in relation to the jurisprudential and institutional relevance of the ECOWAS Court, at a time that the subregion grapples with the greatest challenges to its nascent democracy. A fortiori, it has been the philosophy of conscientious scholars and practitioners of law and communications media in West Africa to uphold and give succour, to the core values upon which the ECOWAS Court is built. Meanwhile, there are two catalytic themes that are cognate with the media and civil society that constitute the golden thread that holds the beads of the discourses of this paper together. And the first is the transformation of the media landscape and its increasingly pervasive influence on domestic and global issues. The second is the reinvigoration of the impacts of CSOs in hitherto despotic (now democratic) states in West Africa. Thus, the ECOWAS Court is crucial to the achievements of the fundamental ideals of regional integration, peace and security, economic growth and sustainable development, political cooperation and democratisation, constitutionalism, human rights and justice – the architecture upon which ECOWAS is built.

Significantly, the proper communication of these ideals across the subregion is crucial to ECOWAS’ survival and progression, amid the resurgence of political authoritarianism in West Africa. This paper presents a strong and incontrovertible case for a tripartite collaboration of the ECOWAS Court, the media and CSOs, in upholding and promoting the core values, mission and vision of the Court. The Court’s unprecedented positive strides are manifested in its contributions to the emergence of a sui generis legal order in the subregion. Nevertheless, because most West Africans are unware of this admirable accomplishment, the Court’s outreach Section must collaborate with the media and CSOs in Member States to disseminate credible information about its jurisprudential and institutional relevance to the subregion. Contrariwise, since the Court’s inauguration, there have been a welter of debacles, undermining its efficacy. As it stands, it appears that some media structures have been vociferous in framing this narrative in ways that would negatively impact the perceptions of West Africans at the micro (individual or psychological) and the macro (societal or sociological) levels. The dire need for a change in the narrative, through effective communication and cooperation of all stakeholders (including the media and CSOs) in upholding and promoting the Court’s core values, is a sine qua non for ECOWAS.

 Thus, the existence of a strong and effective ECOWAS Court would foster human rights ideals and simultaneously check the excesses of the political realists in the sub-region. This would create a peaceful and health democratic environment of human rights in which West Africa’s civic publics are relatively secured. As established in 1.2 communication and cooperation are crucial to governance and human affairs. The Revised ECOWAS Treaty and the aforementioned protocols and supplementary protocols are clear on the constitutionalism of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in West Africa. Structurally, the paper is divided into five components. This first part already presents the background. The second, deals with the theoretical perspectives. The third concerns the analytical exposition. The fourth relates the critical context to the final part: conclusions and recommendations.