The Community Court of Justice of the ECOWAS and the Advancement of Human Rights and Social Justice Reform in West Africa: Three Landmark Cases

This chapter examines the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Court), and its role within the region as a resource for Activist Forces who pursue human rights and social justice reform. By investigating the Court’s jurisprudence in three landmark cases: SERAP v. Nigeria & Anor (2010); SERAP v. Nigeria & 8 Ors (2012); and SERAP & 10 Ors v. Nigeria & 4 Ors (2014), this chapter analyses how the ECOWAS Court has advanced the constitutionality and justiciability of environmental and socioeconomic rights despite domestic limitations. Using Nigeria as a case in point, the human rights recognitions by the ECOWAS Court are significant for poor and marginalised populations, e.g. those in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria where natural resource extraction has for decades been largely unfavourable to the well-being and development of the people. This chapter contributes to the literature on human rights systems in Africa by examining how the norms, processes and creative spaces made available by the ECOWAS Court have contributed to human rights and social justice reform in the sub-region.