ECOWAS: Digital Technology Offers Significant Opportunities for Community Justice (Minister)
Dakar, September 21 (APS) – Digital transformation offers significant opportunities for the ECOWAS Court of Justice, Senegalese Justice Minister Moussa Sarr emphasized Monday in Dakar, citing in particular the digitization of work tools and the use of artificial intelligence.
“Digital transformation offers significant opportunities: digitization of procedures, modernization of work tools, virtual hearings, and, with the necessary precautions, the use of artificial intelligence,” the Minister of Justice stated.
He presided over the official opening ceremony of an international conference organized in Dakar by the ECOWAS Court of Justice. The five-day meeting is themed: “The Court of Justice at a Crossroads: Justice, Innovation, Protection of Human Rights and the Future of Regional Integration in West Africa.”
According to Moussa Sarr, community justice faces increasing challenges related to the demands of accessibility, efficiency, and speed in a rapidly changing environment.
Considering that innovative justice can strengthen the protection of fundamental rights and restore citizens’ confidence in regional integration, the Senegalese Minister of Justice emphasized the need to reflect on how it can continue to fully carry out its mission in a context marked by rapid transformations and new challenges.
He believes that technological innovation must remain at the service of justice and the protection of fundamental rights without creating new forms of exclusion, much less undermining the essential guarantees of a fair trial.
In his view, “building a future-oriented community justice system means embracing technological advancements while preserving the values that underpin its legitimacy.” “Innovating in justice means ensuring that progress remains at the service of human dignity,” he emphasized.
The Senegalese Minister of Justice highlighted the major advance made by the ECOWAS Court of Justice through bringing the court closer to citizens.
“The recognized possibility for individuals to directly petition the Court regarding human rights violations constitutes a major step forward. It brings community justice closer to the citizen and gives the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms a concrete and supranational dimension,” he commended.
According to the legal expert, the Court of Justice occupies a “unique place” within the community organization by ensuring respect for community law and guaranteeing fundamental rights and freedoms.
“The credibility of any community institution rests on citizens’ trust in justice and in the protection of their dignity, freedoms, and rights,” the Minister of Justice stated.
In addition to the quality of its decisions, the authority of the judiciary constitutes the very foundation of a community based on the rule of law, justice, and solidarity, explained the Senegalese Minister of Justice.
Furthermore, he continued, “dialogue between national and community courts must be constantly strengthened to promote a coherent interpretation and effective application of community law.”
According to him, the effectiveness of the Court’s decisions and cooperation between courts are essential conditions for the credibility of regional integration.