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Economic Community of West African States
Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance
- Published on 21 December 2001
- Commenced on 21 December 2001
- [This is the version of this document from 21 December 2001.]
Definitions
The terms and expressions used in the present Supplementary Protocol have the same meanings as those used in the Protocol of 10th December 1999.The list of definitions is completed as follows:"Treaty" means the Revised Treaty of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) signed in Cotonou on 24 July 1993;"Protocol" means the Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security, signed in Lome on 10th December 1999;“Supplementary Protocol” means the Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance Supplementary to the Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security;“Community” means the Economic Community of West African States referred to under Article 2 of the Treaty;“Member State” or “Member States” means a Member State or Member States of the Community as defined in paragraph 2 of Article 2 of the Treaty;“Community citizen or citizens” means any national (s) of Member States who satisfy the conditions stipulated in the Protocol defining Community citizenship;“Court of Justice” means the Court of Justice of the Community established under Article 15 of the Treaty;“Authority” means the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States established by Article 7 of the Treaty;“Mediation and Security Council” means the Mediation and Security Council as defined by Article 8 of the Protocol;“Defence and Security Commission” means the Defence and Security Commission as defined in Article 18 of the Protocol;“Executive Secretary” means the ECOWAS Executive Secretary appointed in accordance with Article 18 of the Treaty;“Executive Secretariat” means the Executive Secretariat established under Article 17 of the Treaty;“Deputy Executive Secretary” means the Deputy Executive Secretary in charge of Political Affairs, Defence and Security as referred to in Article 16 of the Protocol;“ECOMOG” means the ECOWAS Cease-fire Monitoring Group, which constitutes the Community’s intervention force as defined in Article 21 of the Protocol relating to the Mechanism etc;“Armed Forces” includes the army, Airforce, Navy, and Gendarmerie;“Security Forces” the Police, Gendarmerie, National Guards and other Forces assigned with security.Chapter 1
Principles
The provisions of this chapter complement and clarify the principles set out in Article 2 of the Protocol of 10 December 1999.Section I: Constitutional convergence principles
Article 1
The following shall be declared as constitutional principles shared by all Member States:Section II: Elections
Article 2
Article 3
The bodies responsible for organising the elections shall be independent or neutral and shall have the confidence of all the political actors. Where necessary, appropriate national consultations shall be organised to determine the nature and the structure of the bodies.Article 4
Article 5
The voters’ lists shall be prepared in a transparent and reliable manner, with the collaboration of the political parties and voters who may have access to them whenever the need arises.Article 6
The preparation and conduct of elections and the announcement of results shall be done in a transparent manner.Article 7
Adequate arrangements shall be made to hear and dispose of all petitions relating to the conduct of elections and announcement of results.Article 8
Member States shall use the services of civil society organisations involved in electoral matters to educate and enlighten the public on the need for peaceful elections devoid of all acts of violence.Article 9
The party and/or candidate who loses the elections shall concede defeat to the political party and/or candidate finally declared the winner, following the guidelines and within the deadline stipulated by the law.Article 10
All holders of power at all levels shall refrain from acts of intimidation or harassment against defeated candidates or their supporters.Section III: Election monitoring and ECOWAS assistance
Article 11
The provisions of Article 42 of the Protocol of 10th December 1999 are hereby complemented by the provisions under this section.Article 12
Article 13
Article 14
Article 15
Article 16
Article 17
Article 18
The report shall be forwarded by the Executive Secretary, together with his own observations, if necessary, to the Mediation and Security Council for recommendations to be made to the country concerned and/or to all Member States, and for measures to be taken, where necessary.Section IV: The role of the armed forces, the police and the security forces in a democracy
Article 19
Article 20
Article 21
The armed and security forces personnel as citizens, shall be entitled to all the rights set out in the constitution, except as may be stated otherwise in their special regulations.Article 22
Article 23
Article 24
Section V: Poverty alleviation and promotion of social dialogue
Article 25
Member States agree that poverty alleviation and promotion of social dialogue are important factors for peace.Article 26
Member States undertake to provide the basic human needs of their populations.Article 27
Member States undertake to fight poverty effectively in their respective countries and within the Community, especially by:Article 28
Section VI: Education, culture and religion
Article 29
Education, culture and religion are essential factors for peace, stability and development in each Member State.Article 30
Article 31
Section VII: Rule of law, human rights and good gevernance
Article 32
Member States agree that good governance and press freedom are essential for preserving social Justice, preventing conflict, guaranteeing political stability and peace and for strengthening democracy.Article 33
Article 34
Article 35
Article 36
Member States shall institutionalise a national mediation system.Article 37
Article 38
Article 39
Protocol A/P.1/7/91 adopted in Abuja on 6 July 1991 relating to the Community Court of Justice, shall be reviewed so as to give the Court the power to hear, inter-alia, cases relating to violations of human rights, after all attempts to resolve the matter at the national level have failed.Section VII: Women, children and the youth
Article 40
Member States agree that the development and promotion of the welfare of women are essential factors for development, progress and peace in the society. Consequently, they undertake to eliminate all forms of discrimination and harmful and degrading practices against women.Article 41
Article 42
Article 43
The Executive Secretariat shall put in place all necessary structures within its establishment to ensure the effective implementation of common policies and programmes relating to the education and the promotion of the welfare of women and youth.Chapter II
Modalities for implementation and sanctions
Article 44
Article 45
Chapter III
General and final provisions
Article 46
This Supplementary Protocol shall form an integral part of the Protocol Relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security, signed in Lome on 10 December 1999.Article 47 – Amendments
Article 48 – Withdrawal
Article 49 – Entry into Force
This Supplementary Protocol shall enter into force upon ratification by a least nine (9) signatory States in accordance with the constitutional procedures of each Member State.Article 50 – Depository Authority
This Supplementary Protocol and all instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Executive Secretariat which shall transmit certified true copies to all Member States and notify them of the dates of deposit of instruments of ratification by the Member States and shall register it with the Organisation of African Unity (OAU)/African Union (AU), as well as the United Nations (UN) and any other organisation as may be decided by the Council.History of this document
21 December 2001 this version
Commenced