The ECOWAS Court of Justice is an organ of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional integration community of 15 member states in Western Africa.
It was created pursuant to the provisions of Articles 6 and 15 of the Revised Treaty of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
[1] Although ECOWAS was founded in 1975 by the Treaty of Lagos (ECOWAS Treaty),[2] the Court of Justice was not created until the adoption of the Protocol on the Community Court of Justice in 1991.
[6] Notably, the 2005 Supplementary Protocol expanded the Court's jurisdiction to include human rights claims by individuals.
[8] However, since 2005, when the Court's jurisdiction was expanded to include human rights claims, the vast majority of cases decided by the Court concern human rights.