The Raoul Wallenberg Institute has officially handed over copies of the first ever East Africa Court of Justice (EACJ) Law Report to the Court’s Registrar, His Worship Mr. Yufnalis Okubo. At the ceremony was Josh Ounsted, Head of the RWI Nairobi Office.
The main objective of the Law Report is to publicize the cases decided by the Court in a user-friendly manner. The two volumes contain cases decided by the Court from its very first ruling in 2005.
“We believe strengthening regional courts and tribunals helps to ensure adherence to the rule of law and respect for human rights through improving regional integration,” says James Kasombo, RWI Programme Officer in Nairobi.
RWI has a partnership with the Court under its Regional Africa Programme (2011-2016).
Why the Law Reports are Important
The EACJ’s major responsibility is to ensure adherence to the law in the interpretation and application of, and compliance with, the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community.
An expanded mandate now also sees the Court ruling on matters concerned with human rights violations by member States, while the Community itself has also recently expanded to include South Sudan in addition to Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
The Law Report was compiled and printed with the support of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute, and collates all the Court’s rulings and judgements over the period from 2005 to 2015.
This is necessitated by the realization that the EACJ’s pronouncements and positions in the discharge of its functions are now creating precedents in national jurisdictions. The jurisprudence on Community Law has steadily grown since the inception of the Court, and it is critical to disseminate relevant information especially to national judiciaries and bar associations as well as members of the public in a timely and relevant manner.
In accordance with the main objective of the cooperation between RWI and EACJ, these reports are intended to improve access to justice for East African citizens through the services of an effective regional court, through ensuring that there is improved information on and awareness of EACJ cases and proceedings in the region.