Legal remedies for energy injustice in the ECOWAS sub-region: the role of the ECOWAS Court

Abstract

The concept of energy justice has been of much scholarly interest in applying justice principles to energy policy, energy production and systems, energy consumption, political economy of energy and climate change, among other areas. However, legal remedies for energy injustice have not been seriously examined; nor has the topic been considered from the perspective of the Global South. Therefore, this article seeks to examine legal remedies for energy injustice in the ECOWAS sub-region and the role that the Economic Community of West African States Court of Justice, otherwise known as ECOWAS Court, can play in granting these remedies. It finds that the concept of energy justice is an evolving one and that at its current level of evolution, the concept has somewhat incorporated the idea of distributional justice, recognition-based justice and procedural justice. Against the backdrop of these findings, the article argues that energy justice in a distributional, recognition-based and procedural sense can be couched in terms of human rights law under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and can be actualised before the ECOWAS Court. It concludes that energy justice, in its present state of evolution, can be substantially actualised in terms of human rights law before the ECOWAS Court.

Keywords:

• energy justice
• distributional justice
• recognition-based justice
• procedural justice
• human rights
• African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
• ECOWAS Court

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Raphael J Heffron and Darren McCauley, ‘The Concept of Energy Justice Across the Disciplines’ (2017) 105 Energy Policy 658–67; Kirsten EH Jenkins, ‘The Methodologies, Geographies, and Technologies of Energy Justice: A Systematic and Comprehensive Review’ (2021) 16 Environmental Research Letters 1–24

2 Kirsten Jenkins and others, ‘Energy Justice: A Conceptual Review’ (2016) 11 Energy Research & Social Science 174, at 175

3 See Kaisa Huhta, ‘Conceptualising Energy Justice in the Context of Human Rights Law’ (2023) 41(4) Nordic Journal of Human Rights 378, at 378, where the following works are identified as constituting a human rights approach to energy justice: Donald M Zillman, Alastair Lucas and George (Rock) Pring, Human Rights in Natural Resource Development: Public Participation in the Sustainable Development of Mining and Energy Resources (Oxford University Press 2002); Adrian J Bradbrook and Judith Gail Gardam, ‘Placing Access to Energy Services within a Human Rights Framework’ (2006) 28 Human Rights Quarterly 389; Stephen Tully, ‘The Contribution of Human Rights to Universal Energy Access’ (2006) 4 Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights 518; Adrian J Bradbrook, Judith G Gardam and Monique Cormier, ‘A Human Dimension to the Energy Debate: Access to Modern Energy Services’ (2008) 26 Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law 526

4 Huhta (n 3) 380

5 Raphael J Heffron, The Challenge for Energy Justice: Correcting Human Rights Abuses (Palgrave Macmillan 2021) 69

6 Huhta (n 3) 389–90

7 On the rule of exhaustion of domestic remedies, see AA Cancado Trindade, Application of the Rule of Exhaustion of Local Remedies in International Law: Its Rationale in the International Protection of Individual Rights (Cambridge University Press 1983) 1

8 Mme Hadijatou Mani Koraou v The Republic of Niger ECW/CCJ/JUD/06/08, read in open court to the public on 27 October 2008

9 SERAP v Federal Republic of Nigeria and Universal Basic Education Commission ECW/CCJ/APP/08/08, read in open court to the public on 27 October 2009

10 On actio popularis before international courts and tribunals, see Farid Ahmadov, The Right of Actio Popularis Before International Courts and Tribunals (Brill 2018)

11 Art 9 of the Protocol on the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice as amended by art 3 of the Supplementary Protocol

12 SERAP v Federal Republic of Nigeria Judgement No. ECW/CCJ/JUD/18/12

13 See Obiora Chinedu Okafor and others, ‘On the Modest Impact of West Africa’s International Human Rights Court on the Executive Branch of Government in Nigeria’ (2022) 35 Harvard Human Rights Journal 169

14 Solomon T Ebobrah, ‘The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice: A Dual Mandate with Skewed Authority’ in Karen J Alter, Laurence R Helfer, Mikael Rask Madsen (eds), International Court Authority (Oxford University Press 2018) 94

15 Enyinna S Nwauche, ‘The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice and the Horizontal Application of Human Rights’ (2013) 13 African Human Rights Law Journal 30–54; Muyiwa Adigun, ‘A Human Rights Approach to Climate Litigation Before the ECOWAS Court’ (2023) Environmental Law Review 1, at 12–13

16 Peter David v Ambassador Ralph Uwechue ECW/CCJ/RUL/03/10; SERAP v The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ECW/CCJ/APP/07/10; Tandja v Djibo and Another ECW/CCJ/05/10

17 African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter) (adopted 27 June 1981, OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/67/3 rev. 5, 21 I.L.M. 58 (1982), entered into force 21 October 1986), art 4

18 African Charter, art 18(4)

19 African Charter, art 20(1)

20 African Charter, art 9

21 Jenkins, ‘The Methodologies, Geographies, and Technologies of Energy Justice’ (n 1) 1–24; Kirsten Jenkins and others, ‘Energy Justice: A Conceptual Review’ (n 2) 174–82; Darren McCauley and others, ‘Energy Justice in the Transition to Low Carbon Energy Systems: Exploring Key Themes in Interdisciplinary Research’ (2019) (233–234) Applied Energy 916

22 Benjamin K Sovacool, Roman V Sidortsov and Benjamin R Jones, Energy Security, Equality, and Justice (Routledge 2014) 23

23 Eugene A Rosa, Gary E Machlis and Kenneth M Keating, ‘Energy and Society’ (1988) 14 Annual Review of Sociology 149, at 149

24 Sovacool, Sidortsov and Jones (n 22) 25

25 Yinka Omorogbe, Why We Have No Energy (University of Ibadan Press 2008)

26 Sovacool, Sidortsov and Jones (n 22) 30

27 Benjamin Sovacool and Michael H Dworkin, Global Energy Justice: Principles, Problems, and Practices (Cambridge University Press 2014); Sovacool, Sidortsov and Jones (n 22) 29–49

28 Benjamin K Sovacool and Michael H Dworkin, ‘Energy Justice: Conceptual Insights and Practical Applications’ (2015) 142 Applied Energy 435, at 438

29 Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (Batoche Books Kitchener 2000) 1781

30 John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism and On Liberty (Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2003)

31 Sovacool and Dworkin, ‘Energy Justice’ (n 28) 438

32 Robert Nozick, Anachy, State, and Utopia (Basic Books 2013)

33 Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom (The University of Chicago Press 2002); Milton Friedman and Rose Friedman, Free to Choose: A Personal Statement (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1980)

34 Sovacool and Dworkin, ‘Energy Justice’ (n 28) 438

35 David Chan Smith, Sir Edward Coke and the Reformation of the Laws: Religion, Politics and Jurisprudence 1578–1616 (Cambridge University Press 2014)

36 Joyce Appleby and Terence Ball (eds), Jefferson: Political Writings (Cambridge University Press 1999)

37 Jürgen Habermas, Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy (tr. William Rehg, The MIT Press 1996) 287–328

38 Sovacool and Dworkin, ‘Energy Justice’ (n 28) 438

39 John Rawls, Justice as Fairness: A Restatement (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 2001); John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (rev. edn, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 1999); John Rawls, Political Liberalism (Columbia University Press 1996); John Rawls, The Law of Peoples with ‘The Idea of Public Reason Revisited’ (Harvard University Press 1999)

40 Amartya Sen, Collective Choice and Social Welfare (Harvard University Press 2017); Joseph E Stiglitz, Amartya Sen and Jean-Paul Fitoussi, Mis-measuring Our Lives: Why GDP Doesn’t Add Up (The New Press 2010); James Foster and Amartya Sen, On Economic Inequality (enlarged edn, Oxford University Press 1997); Amartya Sen, Inequality Reexamined (Oxford University Press 1992); Amartya Sen, Commodities and Capabilities (Oxford University Press 1999); Amartya Sen and others, Standard of Living (Cambridge University Press 1987)

41 Martha C Nussbaum, Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 2011); Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Sen (eds), The Quality of Life (Oxford University Press 1993)

42 Sovacool and Dworkin, ‘Energy Justice’ (n 28) 438; see also Shanil Samarakoon, ‘A Justice and Wellbeing Centered Framework for Analysing Energy Poverty in the Global South’ (2019) 165 (106385) Ecological Economics 1

43 Matthew Herington, Yuwan Malakar and Vigya Sharma, ‘A Hindu Philosophy Perspective on the Temporal Nature of Energy Justice in Odisha, India’ in Gunter Bombaerts and others (eds), Energy Justice Across Borders (Springer 2020) 177

44 Yekeen A Sanusi and Andreas Spahn, ‘Exploring Marginalization and Exclusion in Renewable Energy Development in Africa: A Perspective from Western Individualism and African Ubuntu Philosophy’ in Gunter Bombaerts and others (eds), Energy Justice Across Borders (Springer 2020) 273

45 Sovacool and Dworkin, ‘Energy Justice’ (n 28) 435

46 McCauley and others, ‘Energy Justice in the Transition to Low Carbon Energy Systems’ (n 21) 916–21; Rukonge Sospeter Muhongo, Energy Justice: A Local Content Analytical Framework for Sub-Saharan Africa (Palgrave Macmillan 2020) 48–51

47 Jenkins and others, ‘Energy Justice: A Conceptual Review’ (n 2) 176

48 Ibid

49 McCauley and others, ‘Energy Justice in the Transition to Low Carbon Energy Systems’ (n 21) 917

50 Ibid

51 Sovacool and Dworkin, ‘Energy Justice’ (n 28) 439–40

52 Sovacool and Dworkin, ‘Energy Justice’ (n 28) 439

53 Jenkins and others, ‘Energy Justice: A Conceptual Review’ (n 2) 176–79; McCauley and others, ‘Energy Justice in the Transition to Low Carbon Energy Systems’ (n 21) 917

54 Darren McCauley and others, ‘Advancing Energy Justice: The Triumvirate of Tenets’ (2013) 32(3) International Energy Law Review 107–10

55 Nancy Fraser, ‘Social Justice in the Age of Identity Politics’ in George Henderson and Marvin Waterstone (eds), Geographical Thought: A Praxis Perspective (Routledge 2009) 72–90; Nancy Fraser, Scales of Justice: Reimagining Political Space in a Globalizing World (Columbia University Press 2009)

56 Jamal Lewis, Diana Hernández and Arline T Geronimus, ‘Energy Efficiency as Energy Justice: Addressing Racial Inequities through Investments in People and Places’ (2020) 13 Energy Efficiency 419

57 Ross Gillard, Carolyn Snell and Mark Bevan, ‘Advancing An Energy Justice Perspective of Fuel Poverty: Household Vulnerability and Domestic Retrofit Policy in the United Kingdom’ (2017) 29 Energy Research & Social Science 53–61; Carolyn Snell, Mark Bevan and Harriet Thomson, ‘Justice, Fuel Poverty and Disabled People in England’ (2015) 10 Energy Research & Social Science 123

58 McCauley and others, ‘Energy Justice in the Transition to Low Carbon Energy Systems’ (n 21) 917

59 McCauley and others, ‘Advancing Energy Justice: The Triumvirate of Tenets’ (n 54) 108

60 Stefan Bouzarovski and Neil Simcock, ‘Spatializing Energy Justice’ (2017) 107 Energy Policy 640, at 644

61 McCauley and others, ‘Advancing Energy Justice: The Triumvirate of Tenets’ (n 54) 108

62 Sovacool, Sidortsov and Jones (n 22) 37–38

63 Sovacool and Dworkin, Global Energy Justice 12; Elena V Shabliy, Dmitry Kurochkin and Martha J Crawford, Discourses on Sustainability: Climate Change, Clean Energy and Justice (Palgrave Macmillan 2020) 9

64 Jenkins and others, ‘Energy Justice: A Conceptual Review’ (n 2) 178

65 John Ash, ‘New Nuclear Energy, Risk, and Justice: Regulatory Strategies for an Era of Limited Trust’ (2010) 38(2) Politics and Policy 255–84; on energy democracy, see Sufyan Droubi, Raphael J Heffron and Darren McCauley, ‘A Critical Review of Energy Democracy: A Failure to Deliver Justice?’ (2022) 86 Energy Research & Social Science 1

66 See Karin Bäckstrand and others (eds), Environmental Politics and Deliberative Democracy: Examining the Promise of New Modes of Governance (Edward Elgar 2010); James S Fishkin, When the People Speak: Deliberative Democracy and Public Consultation (Oxford University Press 2009)

67 Sovacool and Dworkin, ‘Energy Justice’ (n 28) 438

68 Ibid

69 Adopted 27 June 1981, OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/67/3 rev. 5, 21 I.L.M. 58 (1982), entered into force 21 October 1986

70 African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, ‘African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights’ <https://achpr.au.int/en/charter/african-charter-human-and-peoples-rights> accessed 14 April 2024

71 African Charter, art 3–14 (civil and political rights) and art 22 (economic, social and cultural rights)

72 African Charter, ch 2, art 27–29

73 African Charter, art 3

74 African Charter, art 2

75 Gordon Walker, Neil Simcock and Rosie Day, ‘Necessary Energy Uses and a Minimum Standard of Living in the United Kingdom: Energy Justice or Escalating Expectations?’ (2016) 18 Energy Research & Social Science 129

76 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (adopted 16 December 1966, entered into force 23 March 1976) 999 UNTS 171 (ICCPR)

77 Thoko Kaime and Godswill Agbaitoro, ‘An Energy Justice Approach to Resolving the Conflict between the Development of Energy Access Projects and Human Rights Risks and Violations in Africa: Can a Balance Be Struck?’ (2022) 3 Global Energy Law and Sustainability 39, at 47

78 Joerg Chet Tremmel, A Theory of Intergenerational Justice (Earthscan 2009) 62

79 SERAP v Nigeria Judgement No. ECW/CCJ/JUD/18/12

80 Ibid para 111–12

81 Rowan Nicholson, ‘The Meaning of Self-Determination’ in Ryan D Griffiths, Aleksandar Pavković and Peter Radan (eds), The Routledge Handbook of Self-Determination and Secession (Routledge 2023) 3

82 Application No. 006/2012, judgement delivered on 26 May 2017

83 Ibid para 109–12

84 Ibid para 107

85 Mini Govindan and others, ‘Gender in Electricity Policymaking in India, Nepal and Kenya’ in Gunter Bombaerts and others (eds), Energy Justice Across Borders (Springer 2020) 111, at 112

86 Govinda and others (n 85) 112

87 Ibid

88 (1981) 1249 United Nations Treaty Series 13

89 (1990) 1577 United Nations Treaty Series 13

90 On human rights of the elderly, see Bridget Lewis, Kelly Purser and Kirsty Mackie, The Human Rights of Older Persons: A Human Rights-Based Approach to Elder Law (Springer 2020); Carole Cox and Manoj Pardasani, ‘Aging and Human Rights: A Rights-Based Approach to Social Work with Older Adults’ (2017) 2 Journal of Human Rights and Social Work 98; Frédéric Mégret, ‘The Human Rights of Older Persons: A Growing Challenge’ (2011) 11(1) Human Rights Law Review 37; Jaclynn M Mille, ‘International Human Rights and the Elderly’ (2010) 11(2) Marquette Elder's Advisor 343; Diego Rodriguez-Pinzón and Claudia Martin, ‘The International Human Rights Status of Elderly Persons’ (2003) 18(4) American University International Law Review 915; see also Robert N Brown, The Rights of Older Persons (2nd edn, Southern Illinois University Press 1989)

91 Ayodele Morocco-Clarke, ‘Righting the Injustices within the Nigerian Energy Industry’ in Raphael J Heffron and Louis de Fontenelle (eds), The Power of Energy Justice and the Social Contract (Palgrave Macmillan 2024) 163, at 164

92 Ginevra Le Moli, ‘Beyond Externalities: Human Rights as a Foundation of Entitlements over Energy Resources’ 2023 (26) Journal of International Economic Law 649, at 650

93 Moli (26) 655–59. On some of the cases she relies on, see Saramaka People v Suriname (IACtHR), Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations, and Costs, Judgement, Series C, No. 172 (2007); Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku v Ecuador (IACtHR) Judgement of 27 June 2012, Merits and Reparations, Series C, No. 245; African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v Kenya, Judgement (26 May 2017), African Court App No. 006/2012 [Ogiek Case]

94 ECOWAS Revised Treaty, art 15(1)

95 Protocol A/P.I/7/91 on the Community Court of Justice

96 Supplementary Protocol A/SP.1/01/05 amending Protocol A/P.I/7/91 on the Community Court of Justice

97 Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, State Responsibility, Climate Change and Human Rights under International Law (Hart 2019) 140

98 Case Concerning the Factory at Chorzów (Germany v Poland) 47

99 Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, ‘Remedies for Human Rights Violations Caused by Climate Change’ (2019) 9 Climate Law 224, at 235

100 Annex to Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 16 December 2005, A/RES/60/147

101 Kent Roach, Remedies for Human Rights Violations: A Two-Track Approach to Supra-national and National Law (Cambridge University Press 2021) 73

102 Juan Auz, ‘The Political Ecology of Climate Remedies in Latin America and the Caribbean: Comparing Compliance between National and Inter-American Litigation’ (2024) Journal of Human Rights Practice 1