Delegation from ECOWAS Community Court of Justice visits the Mechanism’s Hague Branch

The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism) today received a visit from a delegation of the Economic Community of West African (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice at the premises of the Mechanism’s Hague branch. The high-level delegation of Judges and senior officials was led by the President of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, the Honourable Justice Jérôme Traoré.

The delegation was welcomed by the President of the Mechanism, Judge Theodor Meron, who spoke with the guests about the Mechanism’s mandate, structure, functions and ongoing judicial work. Following his presentation, President Meron and the Judges and senior officials of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice discussed a diverse range of issues of common interest including cooperation between international, national and regional courts on war crimes cases and the value of sharing experiences and best practices between judges, lawyers and other judicial professionals working at the national and international levels.

The delegation also received a briefing on the Mechanism’s archives from the Chief of the Mechanism’s Archives and Records Section, Ms. Elizabeth Emmerson, who informed the guests about the archives’ structure, content, access regime and other issues related to its preservation and maintenance.

At the conclusion of their visit, the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice delegation had an opportunity to attend a trial session in the Stanišić and Simatović case.