35. To answer this question, it is important to start by referring to the
general principle governing the actions of Community Institutions and
their officials.
36.
The actions of ECOWAS institutions and their officials are subject to the
principle of legality. This means that when acting on behalf of the
Community, these institutions and their officials must comply with the
law governing the operations of ECOWAS, namely the Revised Treaty
and other Community texts approved by the competent organs.
37· With the same purpose of ensuring compliance with that foundational
principle of ECOWAS Community, Article 9 of the Protocol on the Court,
as amended by Supplementary Protocol (A/SP.l/01/ 0S), empowers the
Court with jurisdiction to adjudicate on "any dispute relating to the
legality of regulations, directives, decisions or subsidiary instruments
adopted by ECOWAS" and "on the actions for damages against a
Community institution or an official of the Community for any action or
omission in the exercise of official functions".
38. But for the jurisdiction of the Court to be set in motion for the
adjudication of a dispute arising from an alleged violation of Community
laws by ECOWAS Institutions or their officials, it is necessary that a
lawsuit be lodged by an entity or individual to who is attributed, by the
Court Protocol or other Community texts, the necessary capacity to do so.
39. According to Article 10 of the same Protocol, an individual can only have
access to the Court in the following situations:
1) to react against an act or inaction of the Community or its agents
who have violated the individual's rights, Article 1o(c);
2) to seek relief of violation of the human rights the individual has
been the victim of, Article 10(d); and
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