On 29th October Justice Musa Ssekaana attended the Launching of the East African Community Treaty Source book at Munyonyo, "A sourcebook on Good Governance and Rule of Law in the East African Community."
The Sourcebook is a product developed to facilitate training of Judges and stakeholders on Good Governance and the Rule of Law in the East African Community. The training are part of activities under a project funded by the Ford Foundation on Enhancing the ability of the Bench and the Bar in East Africa to promote and expand the East Africa Civic Space through the East African Court of Justice Legal Architecture.
Among those who provide invaluable contributions to the sourcebook include; Dr Henry Onoria of ALP East Africa, the CEPIL team, that includes Patricia Mutiso, the Project Officer for the project and Francis Obonyo, the Ag. Executive Director.
East African Community
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional economic integration bloc or, to use a more appropriate legal term, regional economic community (REC). A hitherto defunct EAC had existed from 1967 to 1977. The current
EAC was revived on November 30, 1999 with the signing of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community, 1999. This followed a process of re-integration embarked in 1993 and had involved tripartite programs of co-operation in political, economic, social and cultural fields, research and technology, defense, security, legal and judicial affairs.
The original Partner States of the EAC were the Republic of Kenya, the United Republic of Tanzania,
and the Republic of Uganda. The Republic of Burundi and the Republic of Rwanda joined in 2007 while
the Republic of South Sudan joined in 2016. Presently, the EAC comprises of the six (6) Partner States. The Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community (EAC Treaty) entered into force in July 2000.
Necessity for a Sourcebook
The Sourcebook is to provide an insight into principles of the Community that have come to define and shape a significant part of the EACJ jurisprudence since it issued its first decisions in 2006. The twin principles—considered to create justiciable obligations for Partner States—have been addressed by the EACJ in terms of its jurisdiction over the references that have been brought before it; the concurrent jurisdiction of national courts; and the very scope and parameters of good governance and rule of law. Further, with the Sourcebook’s exposition of the rich jurisprudence into the principles in Articles 6(d) and 7(2) of the Treaty, it should serve as a sourcebook for both justices of the EACJ (as a regional court with the primacy to interpret and ensure compliance with the Treaty) and of national courts. It is of note that the EACJ has held that national courts are positioned to enforce the Treaty (and Community law) and has noted that the good governance and rule of law obligations under Articles 6(d) and 7(2) are justiciable before, and enforceable by, national courts. National judiciaries will doubly get an insight into the jurisprudence their regional counterparts have nurtured. As a sourcebook, it can be a quick look-up reference source on text of the Treaty and EACJ decisions.
Beyond that, the Sourcebook should serve as a training resource for induction trainings and continuous judicial education. Importantly, in this digital age, it can be updated to include any new judicial developments in respect of Articles 6(d) and 7(2) of the Treaty.
