COMESA COURT OF JUSTICE MOVES TO PERMANENT SEAT IN KHARTOUM, SUDAN

Date: 24^th January 2006

COMESA COURT OF JUSTICE MOVES TO PERMANENT SEAT IN KHARTOUM, SUDAN

The process of relocating the COMESA Court of Justice from Lusaka to Khartoum to assume its permanent seat was completed on Monday 23^rd January with the handing over of the headquarters building by the Government of the Republic of Sudan to the Secretary General of COMESA. The handing over ceremony was presided by the Minister of Foreign Trade and witnessed by the Minister of Justice from the Government of Sudan.

Functions of the COMESA Court of Justice include: to ensure the proper interpretation of the provisions of the COMESA Treaty and to adjudicate only in disputes between Member States arising from the interpretation and application of the COMESA Treaty; to adjudicate in disputes between the Common Market and its staff arising from the interpretation and application of the Treaty, Staff Rules and Regulations and terms and conditions of contracts of employment of staff; to adjudicate on reference by the Secretary General; to adjudicate on reference by legal and natural persons; etc.

The COMESA Court of Justice, which is the judicial organ of COMESA, has 12 judges, 7 judges for the lower court and 5 judges are for the Court of Appeal. The Court has been operational since 1998 from the COMESA Secretariat. And it will now move to its permanent seat in Khartoum, the Republic of Sudan. Therefore, the Court will be in a better position to facilitate trade and attract more investment to the region by insuring that COMESA is a rule-based institution.

In his statement, Honourable Prof. George Nyambi. Minister of Foreign Trade said that the decision to locate the COMESA Court of Justice in Khartoum was taken by the COMESA Authority during the 8^th Summit in March 2003, at Khartoum Republic of Sudan. He also reconfirmed the commitment of Sudan to COMESA and its institutions.

Honourable Mohamed Ali El Mardi, Minister of Justice said in his speech that, the handing over of the headquarters building of the Court would facilitate and support peace, security, stability and development in Sudan.

Mr. Erastus J. O. Mwencha, the Secretary General of COMESA, emphasized in his speech that, decisions of the COMESA Court of Justice have precedence over decisions of National Courts. He further said that, the Court adjudicates on reference by governments, private sector and individuals.

The COMESA Court of Justice is one of the COMESA organs. COMESA institutions include the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (PTA Bank), African Trade Insurance (ATI), COMESA Clearing House, COMESA Leather and Leather Products Institutes (LLPI) and COMESA Reinsurance Company (ZEP-RE).

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is a regional integration grouping of 20 African States, which have agreed to promote regional integration through trade, development and investment promotion and to develop their natural and human resources for the mutual benefit of all their people.The aims and objectives of COMESA as defined in the Treaty and its Protocols are to facilitate the removal of the structural and institutional weaknesses of member States so that they are able to attain collective and sustainable development through regional integration.

Eleven (11) COMESA member States are now in the COMESA Free Trade Area (FTA) and more member States are expected to join the FTA. FTA accounts for 79 % of COMESA's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) equivalent to US$ 175 billion. And It also accounts for over 50 % of its population of 380 million people.

COMESA is committed to progression of the FTA into a Custom Union (CU) by December 2008 as decided by the COMESA Authority in its Summit held at Kigali, Rwanda, in June 2005 and eventually into an Economic Community. This will enable factors of production (capital, labour, etc) and also goods and services to move unimpeded across the region.

In 2004, intra-COMESA trade increased by 23% to reach US$ 5.4bn assisted by FTA. Comoros, Egypt, Eritrea, Madagascar, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe achieved significantly high growth rates of exports to the region. Sudan's trade with some COMESA countries, in particular, Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia and DR Congo is growing significantly.

Major challenges facing COMESA include, among other things, high cost of doing business due to physical and soft infrastructure constrains; and political and economic outlook e.g. peace and stability

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