The President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, Justice Ricardo Gonçalves, has said the regional court is taking steps to reform and streamline its judicial procedures to ensure faster and more efficient delivery of justice across the subregion.
Gonçalves spoke on Monday in Niger State during the opening ceremony of the 2025 Judicial Retreat of the Community Court, themed “Efficiency and Effectiveness: Streamlining Processes for a Dynamic ECOWAS Court.”
According to him, the retreat was designed to review the functioning of the Court’s departments, assess their collaboration with the College of Judges, and examine the implementation of previous resolutions with a view to enhancing the institution’s overall performance.
“We are taking deliberate steps to reform and streamline our judicial procedures so that justice within the ECOWAS Community is delivered more swiftly, efficiently, and in accordance with the law.
Our procedures must remain faithful to the law while being responsive to the realities of justice delivery in our time,” Gonçalves said.
According to him, special attention during this year’s deliberations would focus on comparative judicial practices relating to summary hearings, interim measures, and other procedural matters essential to ensuring swift and fair adjudication.
The ECOWAS Court President noted that litigants within the subregion expect efficiency and timeliness in the Court’s rulings, stressing that the judiciary must evolve to meet the growing demands of regional integration and citizens’ rights.
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He also disclosed that the retreat would review the Court’s annual performance report — a key accountability tool — to measure progress, identify shortcomings, and define actionable steps for the coming judicial year.
Gonçalves reiterated that the credibility of the Court depended on discipline, collaboration, and adherence to institutional roles among judges and staff, adding that effective cooperation was crucial to achieving the Court’s mandate.
“From this retreat, we must emerge with clear resolutions that will guide our work in the coming year — strengthening collaboration, institutionalising accountability, and improving our judicial procedures to make them more transparent and accessible to litigants,” he said.
The PUNCH reports that the court faced challenges, including case backlogs, limited funding, and low compliance rates by some member states, which have occasionally hindered the enforcement of its rulings.
Speaking, the Chief Registrar of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, Dr Yaouza Ouro-Sama, has disclosed that human rights matters now make up over 90 per cent of the cases filed before the regional court.
He said the Court had gained international recognition for its courageous and principled stance in the protection of human rights, a development that has positioned it as one of the most active regional courts in Africa.
“The Court’s human rights mandate has become the hallmark of its judicial activities, with human rights cases constituting over 90 per cent of the matters filed. This elevated profile—both within the sub-region and globally—has drawn increasing interest from legal practitioners, scholars, and stakeholders,” he said.
Ouro-Sama attributed the Court’s rising profile to the dedication and intellectual rigour of its judges, whose judgments have continued to receive international acclaim, adding that it was imperative to sustain the momentum.
He explained that the annual retreat provides a forum for the judges and staff to evaluate the Court’s performance and develop new strategies to improve efficiency and responsiveness in the administration of justice.
