The Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS, was established pursuant to Article 15 of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty, and listed in Article 6 thereof as one of the institutions of the Community. It was designed as an inter-state Court and also as Court of first and last resort, to facilitate the economic integration process of the Community, with the primary mandate of interpreting and applying the Revised Treaty and the Community legal Acts. The 1991 constitutive Protocol A/P1/7/91 on the Court provides that the Court is the principal legal organ of the Community. The Court commenced operations in 2001 following the swearing in of its seven pioneer Members on 30th January 2001.

However, in January 2005 the Community adopted Supplementary Protocol A/SP.1/01/05 which amended the initial Protocol on the Court and expanded the mandate of the Court. The Supplementary Protocol granted direct access to the Court to individuals and corporate bodies in respect of certain causes of action. Consequently, the Court now has four distinct mandates: Mandate as a Community Court; Mandate as ECOWAS...