ECOWAS Court lifts ban on Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso cases

The ECOWAS Court of Justice has reversed its previous decision, suspending all proceedings originating from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea.

In a statement on Friday, November 25, 2022, the Court said it arrived at the decision following recent joint deliberations held by the College of Judges of the Court regarding the effect of the suspension of the three Member States.

“The President of the Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS has hereby lifted the ban on proceedings pending before the Court and originating from Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso. 

As a result, citizens from Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso are now at liberty to access the Court and lodge their cases as they wish,” the statement said. 

The decision to lift the ban on the three Member States was taken on Thursday, November 24, 2022, after the President of the Court, Justice Edward Amoako Asante, presented the matter before participants during an orientation workshop, while noting that the suspension of the Member States was a political sanction, and does not amount to an exclusion of those Member States from ECOWAS.

By the new decision, Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso have again come under the jurisdiction of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, and thus applications originating from the three Member States or from their citizens shall be admissible before the Court. 

Background

The ECOWAS Court of Justice in a September 30, 2021 decision suspended all proceedings concerning Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, in accordance with Article 78 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure, which states that “proceedings may be suspended in all cases, by the President, except for preliminary referrals.”

The September 30 decision came on the back of economic sanctions against the three Member States following military takeovers in those countries in August 2021 and January. 

ECOWAS in July lifted economic sanctions after military leaders presented proposals for a 24-month transition to democratic rule.