From Wednesday 17 to Friday 19 June 2026, Benin’s economic capital hosts the second meeting of the Competent National Authorities (CNAs), a major institutional event organised by the ECOWAS Court of Justice.
This high-level meeting aims at a crucial objective for the organisation’s credibility: to strengthen respect for and the effective application of court decisions rendered by the Community Court within its Member States.
For three days, this forum brings together a prestigious panel composed of representatives of national authorities designated by member states, officials from the ECOWAS Commission, and members of the Community Parliament. Seasoned legal experts and senior officials from the ECOWAS Court of Justice are also participating to analyse the bottlenecks that still hinder the implementation of the rulings.
The discussions are expected to be intense, as the issue directly concerns the sovereignty of states in the face of the community commitments they have freely undertaken.
This meeting in Cotonou comes at a time when the issue of implementing ECOWAS Court decisions is being raised with increasing urgency in several countries of the sub-region. By bringing together key political and legal actors, the Court hopes to harmonise national implementation mechanisms and remove administrative and political barriers.
The outcome of this working session should lead to concrete recommendations so that the Court’s rulings no longer remain mere declarations of intent, but translate into binding legal acts that are respected throughout the West African region.
