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ABSTRACT
Similar to the European Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) evolved gradually from little more than a customs union to a supranational organisation with sophisticated governance arrangements. As a consequence, subsidiarity has become an inevitable adjustment mechanism to align individual member state policies with objectives of the Community as a whole. In particular, since the inclusion of a protocol on good governance and democracy in 2001 an increasing number of policy areas require a delineation of competencies between state and Community organs. Moreover, the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice confines itself to the vertical application of human rights law and does not accept human rights claims against private persons since the extension of its mandate in 2005. Many cases involving the Federal Republic of Nigeria illustrate well a double procedural effect of the principle of subsidiarity in the human rights litigation within the ECOWAS legal order.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. See ECOWAS Environmental Policy (Citation2008, p. 22).
2. See United Nations, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Retrieved from http://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/good-governance.pdf
3. International Court of Justice, Interhandel Case, Switzerland v. United States of America, Judgment of 21 March 1959, p. 27.
4. Protocol A/SP1/12/01 on Democracy and Good Governance supplementary to the Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security (ECOWAS, Citation1999).
5. Olajide Afolabi v. Federal Republic of Nigeria, ruling n°: ECW/CCJ/JUD/01/04 of 27 April 2004.
6. ECHR, De Wilde, Ooms and Versyp v Belgium, 28 June 1971, para. 55.
7. See Article 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.
8. Hadijatou v. Republic of Niger, ruling n°: ECW/CCJ/JUD/06/08 of 27 October 2008.
9. See Article 4 of the draft articles on Responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts.
10. Dorothy Chioma Njemanze and others v the Federal Republic of Nigeria, ruling n°: ECW/CCJ/JUD/08/17 of 12 October 2017, p. 24.
11. As above, note 10.
12. Mary Sunday v. the Federal Republic of Nigeria, suit n°: ECW/CCJ/APP/35/15, delivered on 17 May 2018, unreported.
13. Peter David v. Ambassador Ralph Uwechue, ruling n°: EWC/CCJ/RUL/03/10, delivered on the 11 June 2010; SERAP v. the Federal President of Nigeria and others, ruling n°: ECW/CCJ/APP/07/10 delivered on 10 December 2010; and Mamadou Tandja v. Salou Djibo and the Republic of Niger, ruling n°: ECW/CCJ/JUD/05/10, delivered on 8 November 2010.
14. Peter David v. Ambassador Ralph Uwechue, ruling n°: EWC/CCJ/RUL/03/10, delivered on the 11 June 2010.
15. SERAP v. the Federal President of Nigeria and others, ruling n°: ECW/CCJ/APP/07/10, delivered on 10 December 2010.