The president and staff of the Special Court for Sierra Leone yesterday played host to the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice.
Welcoming the 11-member delegation the Special Court president, Justice George Gelaga-King said he was happy for the steps the ECOWAS court had undertaken to take the court to the people.
He said his court had established a legacy such as its premises, which the ECOWAS Court should think about emulating.
Justice Gelaga-King said they had worked very hard to fulfill their mandate with two of the four cases (the AFRC and CDF) having finished and awaiting judgment which he said would be handed next month and the prosecution having closed in the RUF case.
He said both counsels of defence and prosecution would likely appeal the verdict.
In the case of the trial of the Liberian president, Charles Taylor, Mr Gelaga-King said the Trial Chamber II would sit over that case at The Hague, Netherlands.
The Special Court President said funding for his court was their greatest constrain.
“With all this difficulty, mean and lean circumstances, the judges have done excellent work. The outreach section has also done a good job. This has promoted some other sections of certain International Tribunal who have come to us for experience.”
The president of the ECOWAS Court, Justice Aminata Malle Sanogo said they had completed sensitisation in French-speaking countries and were now embarking on a sensitization of English-speaking member countries with Sierra Leone being the first.
Justice Sanogo said the aim of the sensitization was to raise awareness of the court and report when citizens’ rights are violated.
For an application to be made to the court, she said, an application should not be anonymous and should not be pending before another international court.
She said with the supplementary protocols, the court could move to any member states to hear any matter.
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