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Citation
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Judgment date
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| April 2022 |
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Applicant’s prolonged pre-trial detention beyond statutory limits violated rights; Court ordered immediate release and compensation.
Human rights — Pre-trial detention — Excessive duration and arbitrariness — Jurisdiction to examine national judicial acts and domestic law where human rights violations alleged — Right to be tried within reasonable time — Presumption of innocence — Reparations (release, compensation, costs)
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1 April 2022 |
| March 2022 |
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Whether a ministerial ban on political demonstrations unlawfully violated collective freedoms of assembly and expression.
Human rights — Freedom of assembly and expression — Ministerial ban on political demonstrations — NGOs’ standing — actio popularis — admissibility and locus standi — necessity, proportionality and specificity of security justification — repeal and collective reparative measures.
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31 March 2022 |
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Court finds an indefinite ban on political demonstrations violated Senegalese people's rights to assembly and expression; Order repealed.
Human rights jurisdiction; admissibility of NGOs’ representative actions; standing of legal persons; review of national administrative orders; rights to freedom of assembly and expression; limits on broad indefinite bans on political demonstrations; reparations and repeal of unlawful measures.
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31 March 2022 |
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Whether the ECOWAS Court may hear alleged 1993–1996 human rights violations given its post-2005 temporal jurisdiction.
Human rights jurisdiction — ECOWAS Court ratione temporis — Non-retroactivity of treaties — Distinction between instantaneous and continuous violations — No jurisdiction over alleged 1993–1996 violations that did not continue after 19 January 2005.
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30 March 2022 |
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Court dismissed challenge to a draft Hate Speech Bill for failure to prove an imminent violation of freedom of expression.
Freedom of expression – Anticipatory human rights violations – Jurisdiction to review legislative process – Burden of proof and need for certified copy of draft bill/Hansard – Proportionality of restrictions under Article 27(2) African Charter.
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29 March 2022 |
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Court affirmed human-rights jurisdiction but dismissed NGO-led representative suit for lack of mandate; costs shared.
Human-rights jurisdiction under Article 9(4) – Court may examine domestic judgments where human-rights violations are alleged – Time limitation: human-rights actions not statute-barred (French text) – Representative actions: NGO requires mandate/authorization from direct victims – Admissibility and locus standi – Death-row conditions, right to fair trial, prohibition against torture.
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29 March 2022 |
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An NGO’s representative human-rights application for living inmates is inadmissible without a mandate to act.
Human rights jurisdiction – Standing and admissibility – Representative actions by NGOs – Mandate/authorization required to act for living victims – Exceptions for death or public-interest litigation – Death-row conditions alleged as torture under Articles 5 and 7 of the African Charter.
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29 March 2022 |
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Applicants challenging a draft hate‑speech bill failed to prove imminent violations; court dismissed their claims and denied relief.
Human rights — Freedom of expression — Anticipatory/injunctive claims against draft legislation — Jurisdiction and admissibility — Burden and standard of proof — Need for certified copy of the bill/Hansard to show reasonable and convincing indices of imminent violation.
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29 March 2022 |
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Applicants entitled to resettlement and separation allowances; accrued‑leave claim dismissed; default interest ordered.
Administrative law – Employment of international organization staff – Application of ECOWAS Staff Regulations – entitlement to resettlement and separation allowances (Articles 35(b), 35(d), 62(c)) – exhaustion of internal remedies – effect of respondent default – calculation of default interest.
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28 March 2022 |
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Applicants entitled to unpaid resettlement and separation allowances; ECOWAS ordered to pay with default interest.
ECOWAS Staff Regulations – Articles 35(b), 35(d), 62(c) – separation and resettlement allowances; jurisdiction of ECOWAS Court over disputes between Community and its officials; exhaustion of internal remedies; default judgment; dismissal of unparticularized damages claims; default interest at EBID savings rate.
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28 March 2022 |
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Application to supplement judgment for damages dismissed: no omission and no proven causal link or evidence for compensation.
ECOWAS Court – Supplementary judgment – Articles 63 & 64 Rules – omission of pronouncement – extension of time – admissibility – requirement of causal link and evidence for damages – costs allocation.
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28 March 2022 |
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ECOWAS Court found violations of freedom of expression and arbitrary arrest, upheld jurisdiction, and awarded symbolic damages.
ECOWAS Court jurisdiction; parliamentary immunity waiver; prosecutor as judicial authority; right to defence and equality of arms; freedom of expression — legality, necessity and proportionality of restrictions; arbitrary arrest — prompt notification of reasons and charges; symbolic reparations; costs and compliance reporting.
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24 March 2022 |
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Unreasonable prosecutorial delay violated the applicant’s right to a fair hearing; other human-rights claims dismissed.
Human rights — fair trial — unreasonable length of criminal proceedings — State responsibility for omissions — remedy and investigation obligations — discrimination test (comparators) — damages for procedural delay.
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23 March 2022 |
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Revision dismissed: no new decisive fact, dependent compensation and discrimination claims premised on unproven ownership.
Revision of judgment – admissibility – discovery of new decisive fact – Title Deed non‑communication alleged – property rights and compensation claims dependent on proven ownership – revision not a rehearing of facts or law.
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22 March 2022 |
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State violated detainee’s right to life and failed to investigate death in custody; compensation ordered.
Human rights — Deaths in custody — Right to life (Article 4 African Charter) — State’s duty to provide plausible explanation and to conduct prompt, effective and impartial investigation — Delayed autopsy — Torture allegation — Presumption of innocence — Admissibility despite parallel African Commission proceedings.
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21 March 2022 |
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The respondent violated the applicants’ right to peaceful assembly; the NGO applicant lacked standing to sue.
Human rights — Jurisdiction of Community Court over State responsibility for actions of sub-state organs; Admissibility — limits on legal persons (NGOs) suing as "individuals" for human rights violations and representative action; Freedom of assembly — lawfulness, necessity and proportionality of restrictions; Evidence — use of contemporaneous media reports to establish events; Reparations — award of moral damages; exemplary damages not appropriate under human-rights remedial scheme.
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21 March 2022 |
| February 2022 |
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The ECOWAS Court rejected claims of denial of fair hearing in Nigerian electoral appeal, finding no proven human rights violation.
Human rights – Right to fair hearing – Alleged judicial impropriety in electoral matters – Jurisdiction of ECOWAS Court in reviewing domestic court conduct for human rights violations – Threshold for establishing violation – Independence of judiciary – Admissibility requirements.
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17 February 2022 |
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The Court struck out an ECOWAS staff member’s employment dispute for failure to exhaust internal remedies before applying.
Administrative law – employment disputes – ECOWAS staff – exhaustion of internal remedies – time limitation – jurisdiction – premature application where internal review not completed.
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17 February 2022 |
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State agents’ unlawful killing and prolonged retention of a victim’s corpse violated the rights to life and dignity under the African Charter.
Human rights – Right to life – State responsibility for acts of agents – Unlawful killing by state agents – Right to dignity – Retention of corpse – Remedies and reparation under the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights – Locus standi in human rights applications.
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15 February 2022 |
