The Vice President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, Justice Gberi-be Quattara, has said the involvement of the court in criminal cases will save the continent huge foreign exchange spent in the prosecution of such cases elsewhere.
Quattara said this on Monday while fielding questions from newsmen during its week-long sensitisation visit to Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, to improve public awareness of the court in the state..
He said the advocacy was the first of its kind to the state by the court since its establishment 20 years ago.
Quatara was responding to the request of the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, on the need for the court to handle criminal matters between its 15 member states and their citizens.
According to him, “Just like the Emir, a retired judge, has noted, there is need for the ECOWAS Court of Justice to look beyond civil cases.
“The ECOWAS Court of Justice is a human right court and you cannot speak about human right without the criminal aspect of the case.
“Sometimes most of the violations on human right comes from criminal cases. Now we only handle civil cases. But it’s time we make claims for the court to look at criminal aspect.
“Every time, we go to Europe and America for litigation on African cases, why can’t we do that in Africa here?
“If we give competence to ECOWAS Court of Justice to handle such cases, we will not only save money in foreign exchange but time because all the witness are on ground here in Africa.
“But that is not at our level. It is at the level of the conference of the Heads of States to give competence to the court to do that”, he added.
Earlier, the team of the vice president jointly met with the Kwara State Chief Judge, Justice Sulyman Kawu, and the Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association, Ilorin Branch, Mr Ganiyu Bello, both whom pledged support and assistance to ensure the success of the programme in the state.
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