SERAP v. Nigeria, Ruling, Suit No: ECW/CCJ/APP/08/09 and RUL. No: ECW/CCJ/APP/07/10 (ECOWAS, Dec. 10, 2010) 1/25/21, 1:48 PM 53. This Court holds that the consideration made about Niger Delta region or people from Niger Delta as a non- existing entity is based on the assumption that the action is a representative one, that is, the application was filed on behalf of people from Niger Delta. The assertion is not the people from Niger Delta but the Registered Trustees of the Socio-Economic Rights and accountability Project (SERAP), non - governmental organization acting on its own without claiming to represent anyone else. 54. With the respect to the existence of the Plaintiff itself and regularity of its constitution under Nigerian Law , what emerges from the evidence produced before the Court, is that the Plaintiff is entity duly and legally registered under the Company and Allied matters Decree 1 of 1999 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with Certificate of Incorporation (CAC/IT/No. 17206), as confirmed by ANNEXURE A in the Plaintiff's Brief of Argument. Furthermore, Plaintiff's legal capacity was admitted by Court in a previous case involving the Plaintiff in Registered Trustees and Accountability Project vs. Federal Republic of Nigeria & Universal Basic Education Commission. In a ruling delivered on 27/10/2009 the Court stated thus " The Plaintiff (SERAP) is a human rights non¬governmental organization registered under Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria". Consequently, in the absence of compelling evidence to the contrary, the Court holds that the Plaintiff is a legal entity duly constituted. (b) On the locus standi of the Plaintiff 55. With respect to the alleged lack of locus standi by the Plaintiff, the analysis of the Court firstly rely on the nature of the dispute brought before it for adjudication. In fact, the claim presented in the application is related to the alleged violation of the Human Rights of the people who inhabit the Region of Niger Delta. The framework presented in the initiating application is no only of violation of an individual's rights, but of rights of entire communities as well as environmental devastation without sufficient and protective intervention from public authorities. 56. There is a large consensus in International Law that when the issue at stake is the violation of rights of entire communities, as in the case of the damage to the environment, the access to justice should be facilitated. 57. Article 2 (5) of Convention of "Access to Information, Public Participation in DecisionMaking and Access to Justice in Environmental Matter "defines the "public concerned" with environment protection as "public affected or likely to be affected by, or having an interest in the environment decision-making for the purposes of this definition nongovernmental organization promoting environment and meeting requirements under national law shall be deemed to have an interest". Article 9 of the same instrument confirms the access to justice to the public concerned as defined in Article 2 (5). 58. Although the convention is not a binding instrument on African States, its importance, as a persuasive evidence of an international communis opinion juris in allowing NGOs to access the Courts for protection of Human Rights related to the environment, cannot be ignored or underestimated by this court. 59. The capacity of NGOs to lodge complaints related to Human Rights is also recognized by The American Convention on Human Rights which provides in its Article 44 "that any person or group http://www.worldcourts.com/ecowasccj/eng/decisions/2010.12.10_SERAP_v_Nigeria.htm Page 9 of 13