Regional rules to real remedies: ECOWAS Court looks to future at this week’s Dakar conference

West Africa must help shape the rules governing technologies that increasingly influence government decisions and citizens’ rights, says ECOWAS Commission President General Birame Diop.

In an address delivered by the Commission’s Director of Legal Affairs, Gaye Sowe, at Monday’s opening of the ECOWAS Court of Justice’s 2026 International Conference, Diop said artificial intelligence would shape how courts work, how governments decide, and whether citizens are protected or merely watched.

“West Africa must not be a passive consumer of rules written elsewhere,” he said, citing the region’s 2010 Supplementary Act on Personal Data Protection.

“The task now is to build on that foundation, with frameworks for the digital age that are African in their values, human in their purpose, and accountable in their design.”

Shaping tomorrow’s rules, however, goes hand in hand with making today’s judgments effective. For people seeking redress through regional justice, the test is whether the remedy awarded becomes a reality.

Diop described the gap between judicial decisions and their execution as a serious test of the regional legal order’s credibility. He pledged continued engagement with member states to designate national enforcement authorities, keep compliance on statutory meeting agendas, and consider monitoring mechanisms recommended by the conference.

“The Court speaks the law," said Diop. "It falls to all of us, Member States, Community Institutions, bar associations, national human rights institutions, civil society and the media, to make that law real in people’s lives."

That accountability theme also featured at last week’s journalists’ training in Abuja.

In an address delivered there by Vice-President Justice Sengu Koroma, ECOWAS Court of Justice President Justice Ricardo Gonçalves urged media to press governments to honour their treaty obligations. Accurate reporting can help citizens understand decisions and hold governments accountable for implementation; enforcement remains states’ responsibility.

For Gonçalves, who was also an opening day speaker at this week's Dakar conference, the anniversary offers an opportunity to assess whether the institution is keeping pace with the region it serves. “The changing realities of governance, technological advancement, evolving human rights challenges, increased regional mobility, economic transformation and the growing expectations of citizens all require us to continually adapt and innovate." 

He highlighted a Complementary Act approved in December 2025, harmonising the 1991 and 2005 protocols, and Arbitration Rules adopted that month.

Consultations continue on a proposed Appeal Division intended to strengthen judicial guarantees and confidence in decisions.

This week's agenda for the 2026 Annual International Conference of the ECOWAS Court of Justice also connects regional justice with cross-border commerce. Diop called for discussion of activating the ECOWAS Court of Justice’s arbitration mandate and examining how the institution’s work intersects with the African Continental Free Trade Area. He stressed that reforms must follow ECOWAS processes and member states’ collective will.

Keynote speaker Professor Ernest Kofi Abotsi stressed that the institution’s future depends on support beyond the judiciary: governments must defend judicial independence, while civil society sustains advocacy and public awareness. “Accordingly, a people that desire peace must invest in justice. An integration project that desires prosperity must protect rights, and a region that desires integration must strengthen institutions.”

The conference continues in Dakar throughout this week, under the theme of "ECOWAS Court of Justice at the Crossroads: Justice, Innovation, Human Rights Protection and the Future of Regional Integration in West Africa”.