• Legal advice, cooperation and popularization of law, the main activities
• Dematerialization of procedures and opening of a community law school in sight
Daniel Amagoin Tessougué
Established by articles 16 and 38 of the treaty of January 10, 1994, the UEMOA Court is a permanent jurisdiction of 8 members, one member per State, appointed for a renewable 6-year term by the Conference of Chiefs of State and Union Government. The current college, chaired by the Senegalese Mahawa Sémou Diouf, has been in place since February 2018. The hearing on December 20 was an opportunity for the Court to pay tribute to a late member, in this case the Malian Daniel Amagoin Tessougué, formerly a judge and President of the Court, died in June 2023. In a speech, Mahawa Sémou Diouf paid tribute to him by saluting the memory of a man “with a high sense of a job well done”, “an emeritus magistrate of a remarkable intellectual scope.”
A the solemn hearing of a judicial re-entry of the Court of Justice of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), the ceremonial picture has not changed. Some main acts: the announcement of the opening of the hearing by the President of the Court, the requisitions of the Advocate General, the speech by a representative of the Lawyers, but above all the presentation of a report by the Judge rapporteur before the president declares the closure of the previous judicial year and the opening of the new one. What really differs from one year to the next is the back-to-school theme.
For 2023-2024, the start of the school year which took place on December 20, 2023, in Ouagadougou, was placed under the theme of “the non-judicial activity of the UEMOA Court of Justice”. “This is a very important theme for the Court and the entire Union,” commented the Advocate General, Kalifa Bagué. An importance that the report, which was presented by Judge Sabi Abdourahamane Gayakoye, attempts to demonstrate.
Before coming to the non-judicial activities in question, the rapporteur recalled a major role played by the Court of Justice in the institutional architecture of the UEMOA, being this judicial control body responsible for making effective the uniform application of different standards issued by the Union in all Member States. “As such, the Court has jurisdiction to hear the action for failure to comply, the action for assessment of legality, the dispute between the Union and agents, the action for liability, the preliminary reference of disputes between Member States and the action in terms of competition,” explained the rapporteur.
To be effective, justice, according to Sabi Abdourahamane Gayakoye, must be “known, understood and accepted by its recipients”. However, the Court, which does not have self-referral jurisdiction, engages in non-judicial activities. It is precisely these activities that the report on the start of the judicial year divides into three sections, namely: legal advice; the promotion of Community law and judicial cooperation.
Legal advice means the consultative competence of the Court. “It is a mechanism which allows the latter to advise States and bodies either on draft texts awaiting adoption, or in relation to a difficulty of application or interpretation of the texts. This is how the Court has delivered to date, around twenty opinions upon request regarding Burkina, Mali from the Commission, the Regional Consular Chamber and the Central Bank of African States. West,” said the rapporteur.
With regard to promotional activities, the report notes, from the outset, that Community law, like the Court itself, its organs and its functioning, is little known to citizens of the Union. Hence activities to popularize community texts and standards in recent years for various target audiences such as judicial actors, students, Defense and Security Forces, customs administrations, economic operators, etc. “These training actions consisted of regional or national seminars, conferences, training sessions in schools and institutes,” detailed Sabi Abdourahamane Gayakoye.
What about judicial cooperation? It is both bilateral and multilateral. Indeed, the UEMOA Court participates in work spaces bringing together jurisdictions from diverse backgrounds but also maintains friendly and working relationships with other Courts and sister institutions in Africa and around the world. For example, a memorandum of understanding links it to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. “Exchanges with other courts made it possible to resolve problems that are common to us, in particular, the execution of our decisions and the ignorance of our procedures by litigants,” maintains Sabi Abdourahamane Gayakoye.
By way of assessment, the Court welcomes the achievements made over recent years in terms of advisory activity, promotion of Community law and cooperation. Looking ahead, it plans to strengthen cooperation with sister jurisdictions. This will notably involve the upcoming development of a strategic plan for the institution. If, moreover, the Court’s recommendations are taken into account, a training school on West African community law should see the light of day, and the accessibility of the Court improved through the dematerialization of procedures.o
Béranger KABRE (Contributor)
Boxed
The Court’s tribute to a late member, Daniel Amagoin Tessougué
Inestablished by articles 16 and 38 of the treaty of January 10, 1994, the UEMOA Court is a permanent jurisdiction of 8 members, one member per State, appointed for a 6-year renewable mandate by the Conference of Chiefs of State and Union Government. The current college, chaired by the Senegalese Mahawa Sémou Diouf, has been in place since February 2018. The hearing on December 20 was an opportunity for the Court to pay tribute to a late member, in this case the Malian Daniel Amagoin Tessougué, formerly a judge and President of the Court, died in June 2023. In a speech, Mahawa Sémou Diouf paid tribute to him by saluting the memory of a man “with a high sense of a job well done”, “an emeritus magistrate of a remarkable intellectual stature.o
