from the Executive Secretary within thirty days, he shall have another period of thirty
days within which to bring the matter to the notice of the Council of Ministers. This
shall be done through the staff representative who shall present a memorandum in this
connection to Administration and Finance Commission.
(b) All action shall be suspended on the decision to apply sanctions once the right of
•.
appeal is invoked."
73. This provision calls for proper construction, in .order to determine the lines of
action that were appropriate in the circumstance in order to determine whether in
this particular case, there was no appeal against the review as to entitle the plaintiff
to seek redress before Council of Ministers.
74. The use of the words that "if the Court holds that the plaintiff should have
appealed to the
1st
defendant" indicate that there is an ambiguity which may not be
possibly dissected and resolved without a full trial with detailed facts.
It is not in dispute that the Supplementary Protocol of the Court of Justice, ECOWAS,
requires in Article 10(c) that staff of the Community Institution, after the Staff
member has exhausted all appeal processes available to the officer under the
ECOWAS Staff Rules and Regulations shall have recourse to the Community Court
of Justice.
75. In this case, a further material may be required to give the provision the meaning
it deserves, following all rudiments of interpretation in furtherance of the above.
Article 87(5) of the Rules of Procedure, provides that the Court shall, after hearing
the parties decide on the application or reserve its decision for the final judge1nent. If
the Court refuses the application or reserves its decision, the President shall prescribe
new ti1ne limits for the further steps in the proceedings.
The said provision provides support for a situation that is unclear, at this stage, of
the proceedings and which requires a further consideration in a trial of the matter.