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Judicial Review Systems in West Africa: a Comparative Analysis a Comparative Africa: in West Systems Review Judicial

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Judicial Review Systems in West Africa: a Comparative Analysis a Comparative Africa: in West Systems Review Judicial Judicial Review Systems in West Africa A Comparative Analysis Judicial Review Systems West in Africa: Comparative A Analysis The legal systems in West African countries are uniquely diverse. They have their foundations in different colonial heritages and have been shaped by a great variety of customary and religious norms, which affects the design of each country’s judicial system. At the same time, the region is growing together under the umbrella of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). This book compares the constitutional justice institutions in 16 West African states and analyses the diverse ways in which these institutions render justice and promote democratic development. There is no single best approach: different legal traditions tend to produce different design options. It also seeks to facilitate mutual learning and understanding among countries in the region, especially those with different legal systems, in efforts to frame a common West African system. The authors analyse a broad spectrum of issues related to constitutional justice institutions in West Africa. While navigating technical issues such as competence, composition, access, the status of judges, the authoritative power of these institutions and their relationship with other institutions, they also take a novel look at analogous institutions in pre-colonial Africa with similar functions, as well as the often-taboo subject of the control and accountability of these institutions. International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) Strömsborg, SE-103 34 Stockholm, Sweden Tel: +46 8 698 37 00, fax: +46 8 20 24 22 Email: [email protected], website: www.idea.int Hanns Seidel Foundation Lazarettstraße 33 80636 Munich, Germany Tel.: +49 89 1258-0 | Fax: -356 Email: [email protected], website: www.hss.de ISBN: 978-91-7671-052-4 Judicial Review Systems in West Africa A Comparative Analysis Judicial Review Systems in West Africa A Comparative Analysis Lead writers Markus Böckenförde Babacar Kante Yuhniwo Ngenge H. Kwasi Prempeh International IDEA resources on constitution-building processes © 2016 International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance © 2016 Hanns Seidel Foundation International IDEA Strömsborg SE-103 34, STOCKHOLM SWEDEN Tel: +46 8 698 37 00, fax: +46 8 20 24 22 Email: [email protected], website: www.idea.int Hanns Seidel Foundation Lazarettstraße 33 80636 Munich, Germany Tel.: +49 89 1258-0 | Fax: -356 Email: [email protected], website: www.hss.de The electronic version of this publication is available under a Creative Commons Attribute-NonCommercial- ShareAlike 3.0 licence. You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the publication as well as to remix and adapt it provided it is only for non-commercial purposes, that you appropriately attribute the publication, and that you distribute it under an identical licence. For more information on this licence see: <http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/>. International IDEA publications are independent of specific national or political interests. Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of International IDEA or the Hanns Seidel Foundation, or those of their respective Boards or Council members. Graphic design by Turbo Design ISBN: 978-91-7671-052-4 Contents Preface .......................................................................................................................................................... 9 Foreword .................................................................................................................................................... 12 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... 14 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 17 Markus Böckenförde 2. Traditional and historical antecedents of constitutional justice in West Africa ...................................................................................................................... 29 Yuhniwo Ngenge 3. Institutional models for constitutional justice in contemporary West Africa .................................................................................................... 45 Yuhniwo Ngenge 4. Constitutional framework for the independence of constitutional review institutions .................................................................................. 57 Markus Böckenförde and Yuhniwo Ngenge 5. Judicial service commissions ............................................................................................ 67 Babacar Kante and H. Kwasi Prempeh 6. The composition of constitutional justice institutions ................................. 75 Markus Böckenförde 7. Reviewing the constitutionality of laws .................................................................... 89 Yuhniwo Ngenge 8. Other competences of constitutional review institutions ......................... 101 Babacar Kante and H. Kwasi Prempeh 9. Access to constitutional review institutions ......................................................... 117 Babacar Kante and H. Kwasi Prempeh 10. Authority of the decisions of constitutional review institutions ....... 125 Babacar Kante and H. Kwasi Prempeh International IDEA 5 11. Watching the watchdogs ..................................................................................................... 137 Markus Böckenförde 12. Conclusion and outlook ........................................................................................................ 145 Markus Böckenförde and Yuhniwo Ngenge Annex: Questionnaire template .............................................................................................. 151 Glossary ...................................................................................................................................................... 160 References and further reading .............................................................................................. 166 About the authors ............................................................................................................................. 175 About International IDEA ............................................................................................................ 178 About the Hanns Seidel Foundation ................................................................................... 179 More International IDEA resources on constitution-building processes ............................................................................................ 180 6 International IDEA List of tables and figures Table 1.1. West African legal systems, institutional types and terms of judicial tenure ........................................................................... 18 Table 1.2. Index values, deviations from France and indicator congruence of former French colonies with the French model ........................................................................................ 22 Table 1.3. Integration of customary and religious law in West African constitutions and judicial systems ................... 25 Table 2.1. Historical evolution of constitutional justice systems in West Africa ....................................................................................... 41 Table 4.1. Budget autonomy and insulation of salaries of constitutional judges in West Africa ................................................ 63 Table 5.1. Judicial service commissions in West Africa ................................... 67 Table 6.1. Overview of the composition and dismissal process for members of constitutional justice institutions in West Africa .............................................................................................................. 84 Table 7.1. Types of constitutional review and normative instruments subject to control: francophone and lusophone West Africa ............................................................................. 93 Table 7.2. Types of constitutional review and normative instruments subject to control: anglophone West Africa ..... 99 Table 8.1. Other competences of constitutional justice institutions in West Africa .............................................................................................................. 113 Table 10.1. Judgements of constitutional review institutions in West Africa .............................................................................................................. 133 International IDEA 7 Figure 3.1. West Africa in the global distribution of the judicial model of constitutional review ................................................................... 47 Figure 3.2. Distribution of the judicial model of constitutional review in West Africa ........................................................................................... 48 Figure 3.3. Distribution of Kelsenian-type institutions in West Africa .............................................................................................................. 49 Figure 3.4. Pure and non-pure models of Kelsenian-type institutions in West Africa .............................................................................................................. 50 Figure 6.1. Selection by the legislature through a supermajority ............. 78 Figure 6.2. Selection through a consecutive process ........................................... 79 Figure
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