W/African jurists deepen regional judicial integration

 A senior official of the Supreme Court of Cote d’Ivoire has welcomed the creation of a West African Jurists Association as a veritable tool for building synergies among judges and lawyers in the region towards the integration of judicial systems and the protection of the human rights of the citizens of the region.  Opening the […]

 A senior official of the Supreme Court of Cote d’Ivoire has welcomed the creation of a West African Jurists Association as a veritable tool for building synergies among judges and lawyers in the region towards the integration of judicial systems and the protection of the human rights of the citizens of the region.
 Opening the inaugural meeting of the association in Abidjan on Thursday, April 14,
2016, the first Vice President of the Court, Madam Camara Chantal, said the association would contribute to the consolidation of the rule of law in member states and reinforce judicial and legal cooperation towards the creation of a strong and stable judicial legal environment in the region.
The association is also expected to promote the harmonisation of judicial instruments in the spirit of the ECOWAS Treaty, which seeks to promote the socio-economic integration of the region, she added.
The President of the Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS, Honorable Justice Maria De Céu Silva Monteiro, explained that the idea of the organization was the creation of a non-governmental organisation that would contribute to the consolidation of democracy, the rule of law, prevention of conflicts and respect for the fundamental rights of the citizens of the region in collaboration with civil society.
The president said the association, an initiative of the Community Court of Justice,
ECOWAS, was the creation of a platform for higher officials of member states towards the judicial integration of the region, which informed the content of the initial documents of the organisation developed in 2011 and 2014 during meetings in Cotonou and Accra.
 She paid tribute to those who designed the initial strategic documents for the association, which seek to promote the independence of the judiciary, the rule of law, the implementation of international instruments in the area of human rights and the reinforcement of judicial and legal cooperation.