Africa
THE ECOWAS Court of Justice on Wednesday, October 30, 2019 declared as ‘inadmissible,’ a suit filed by a former Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Niger alleging the violation of his rights, following the lifting of his immunity in connection with a child trafficking case involving the wife.
Delivering judgment in the suit brought by Mr. Hama Amadou, the Court upheld the argument of the government of Niger that the same issues, subject matter and reliefs sought, were canvassed by the same applicant in a case decided by the Court in 2016 and that there were no new grounds to justify the revision of the case.
That case, which was lodged in 2015, was dismissed by the Court for the failure of the plaintiff to establish the allegation of the violation of his human rights against the Republic of Niger.
Amadou had averred that the present case was different as it involves the violation of the right to security, the violation of the principle of equality before the law, the violation of the right to a fair trial and the violation of the right to a family life.
But the Court pointed out that in the first case, Amadou averred that these were human rights violations and asked for pecuniary remedies, which is similar to the present case that is premised on the violation of his human rights and an order for the payment of compensation for damages.
The Court, however, declared itself incompetent to hear all the issues raised by the applicant concerning the decisions of national courts as such decisions do not fall within its jurisdiction.
However, the three member panel of judges declared the Court competent to rule on the application in respect of the violation of human rights, particularly the violation of the right to security; the violation of the principle of equality before the law; the violation of the right to a fair trial and the violation of the right to family life raised by the applicant in line with Article 9 (4) of the 2005 Supplementary Protocol on the Court.
According to the Article, “the Court has jurisdiction to determine cases of violation of human rights that occur in any Member State”.
It, however, declared the matter inadmissible since it had previously decided on it in the 2016 case.
The panel of judges on the case included Honourable Justices Edward AMOAKO ASANTE, President, Gberi-Bè OUATTARA, Judge Rapporteur and Keikura BANGURA, Member.
– Nov. 1, 2019 @ 16:55 GMT |
Tags: case filed by former Speaker of Parliament of Niger ECOWAS Court declares inadmissible
