Community Court of Justice cannot give up its jurisdiction
-
!
in favour of a domestic court, on the assumption that local
remedies shall be exhausted, since this is not a require111ent
imposed on the victims to have access to the ECOWAS
Court of Justice. In fact, what the Protocol on the Court
establishes, in Article 10 Section (d) Subparagraph (ii), as an
impedin1ent to the Court's jurisdiction is the fact that "the
same 1natter has been instituted before another international
court for adjudication".
75. Therefore, the circumstance that the matter
is already
pending
not before an international court, but before
national
court, cannot be taken as an obstacle to the
a
ECOWAS Court jurisdiction. See, an1ong several cases, the
:.(
t ----··
decision in Suit no. ECW/CCJ/APP/07/11 Valentine Ayika
V Republic of Liberia.
76. In applying the above decisions to the present case, the .
Court holds that
pendency of the suit before a domestic
court cannot oust its jurisdiction to determine this case on
alleged human rights violation.
)(;
/ .7