ECOWAS Court President Amoako Asante awarded again for excellence in leadership
The award is in the distinguished personality category and according to organisers, it goes to represent his ‘groundbreaking commitment to human capital development and support for projects in empowering young leaders in Africa.
The President of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, Edward Amoako Asante was on Saturday, October 15, 2022, honoured with an award for excellence in leadership, peace, and community development.
Justice Amoako Asante was among 30 awardees at the 11th edition of the annual ceremony organized by the Executive Council of Peace Ambassadors Agency Worldwide and its partnering institution, the US based American Management University which was on the theme “The Role of the Nigerian Youth, Community Leaders, the Media, and Security in Nigeria’s 2023 Elections.”
The award is in the distinguished personality category and according to organisers, it goes to represent his ‘groundbreaking commitment to human capital development and support for projects in empowering young leaders in Africa.
In August, alongside other African leaders, he was honoured with the African Bar Association’s Medal of Merit in Leadership.
A Justice of Ghana’s Court of Appeal, Justice Edward Amoako Asante was elected to the ECOWAS Court in 2018, and subsequently had his tenure renewed in 2020 and 2022 for a third term.
He is also a member of the Ghana Bar Association, the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana, the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association, and the World Jurists Association.
According to information on the Court’s website, he has facilitated and served as a resource person at many international conferences, workshops, judicial dialogues, and seminars organized by UNESCO, the World Jurists Association, the International Law Institute, the Internet Governance Forum, the African Court, the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court.
“Under his leadership, the ECOWAS Court has successfully organized three international conferences on various aspects of the court’s jurisprudence drawing on the experiences of leading jurists, lawyers, professionals and scholars within the region, to enrich the work of the court.
In order to avert the devastating effects of the covid-19 pandemic on the administration of justice, he ensured that the Court adopted the 2020 Practice Direction on Electronic Case Management and Virtual Court Sessions, which enabled the Court to commence electronic filing and virtual court sessions. Since then, many cases have been heard and judgments consequently delivered without parties and lawyers travelling to the seat of the court, thus saving indigent parties and their lawyers the travelling and hotel costs, aside the risk of infections.”
Under his leadership, the ECOWAS Court was in March awarded the “Best Recognized Judicial Decision category” in the Global Freedom of Expression Award for the year 2020 by Columbia University in New York.
This award was given based on the Court’s decision in a case titled, Amnesty International & 6 others vs. Republic of Togo.