litigation in this context. This is to ascertain whether or not the Applicant can initiate this application in the absence of the direct victims of the alleged violation, albeit on their behalf. According to Black's Law Dictionary 9th Edition, the words “public Interest”; connote “the general welfare of the public that warrants recognition and protection”. In other words, public interest litigation means a legal action initiated in a court of law for the enforcement of public interest or general interest in which the public or class of the community have pecuniary interest or some interest by which their legal rights or liabilities are affected. Public interest litigations are aimed at protecting and promoting collective legitimate human rights and public policy which may be subject to government or other forms of violation. It is, therefore, imperative to state that the protection of human rights and the improvement of social and economic rights of the vulnerable people is a critical part of social contract and one of the cardinal and historical objectives of public interest litigation. In the case of REV. FATHER SOLOMON MFA v. FRN, ECW/CCJ/JUD/06/19, this Court extensively expounded on the principle of actio popularis where it found that: “The law recognizes the rights of individuals and corporate bodies who are not victims to bring an action in a representative capacity under the principle of actio popularis. The Court under this situation will allow NGOs and public spirited individuals to institute actions on behalf of groups of victims usually from a community or class of people based on common public interest to claim for the violation of their human rights, because this group may not have the knowledge and the financial capacity to maintain legal action of such 14