ECCAS Date of Establishment: December 18, 1984

ECCAS CJ Date Operational: Not yet operational

ECCAS CJ Seat: None

States Subject to ECCAS CJ Jurisdiction: Potentially the Members of ECCAS: Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo Democratic Republic, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, and Sao Tome and Principe

Number of Cases Received by the Court: 0

The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS/CEEAC) is an institution that exists solely as a possibility on paper. ECCAS was founded upon the decision of the members of the Central African Customs and Economic Union (UDEAC) to form a larger community by merging with the Economic Community of the Great Lakes States and a few other states. The Community began to operate, with the appointment of a Secretariat in 1985.

The Treaty promised development through integration. Under the Treaty, the Court is designed to ensure that “the law is observed” in the interpretation and application of the Treaty. To do so, the Court is given jurisdiction to rule on the legality of decisions, directives and regulations of the Community. The Treaty provides that a Member State or the Conference of Heads of State and Government can bring to the Court cases on the misuse of powers, lack of competence or infringement of an essential procedural process of the Treaty. Preliminary rulings may be issued by the Court on the interpretation of the Treaty or the validity of other Community laws. The Court is also given the power to provide advisory opinions to the Conference or the Council of Ministers.

Notably, the Treaty does not specify those who will have the power to question before the Court the legality of Community laws, nor what sources of law should be used in making such a determination. Further, the Treaty does not provide a mechanism for the Court to be involved in the enforcement of Community law in or against the Member States. Such details are left to the Conference to specify, along with generally determining the structure of the Court in promulgating its statute and rules of procedure.

After inclusion of the Court as an institution in the Treaty, the Member States of ECCAS have taken no further steps towards making the Court a reality. From 1985 to 1992 the Community functioned with the Secretariat helping to push along the free movement of goods, capital and people around the Community. Many protocols were produced but not fully ratified or implemented. No draft statute of the Court, however, was forthcoming. After 1992, the Community itself went idle due to the conflict in the Great Lakes area. 1998 saw the beginning of a movement to revitalize the Community. However, none of the plans discussed mention the creation of the Court as a priority.

The eventual merger of the Economic Community of the Great Lakes States and UDEAC under the umbrella of ECCAS had not yet happened by 1992 and both entities continue today separate from ECCAS. In 1994, UDEAC was transformed into the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC). However, plans to merge the ECCAS and CEMAC remain. In 2003, ECCAS and CEMAC finalized an agreement with the European Union stipulating that the two would merge. Under the agreement, ECCAS would be the security arm of the resulting organization. Since CEMAC has a court that is already fully functional, it is likely that any future merger of the two groups will forever prevent the birth of the ECCAS Court of Justice.