West Africa Bar Association (WABA)
From TrustAfrica wiki - African Regional Organizations
West Africa Bar Association (WABA)
C/O Falana Chambers
Adekunle Fajuyi Way
GRA, Ikeja
Lagos, Nigeria
Tel: +234 803 300 4903
Email: waba_2004@yahoo.com
falanachamber@yahoo.com
Contact: Mr Femi Falana, President
Description
Lawyers from the sub-region, including the President of the African Bar Association, gathered in Abuja in 2004 to establish West African Bar Association (WABA) for the promotion of rule of law, fundamental human rights and democracy in West Africa. WABA’s emergence came at a time when lawyers had begun to take advantage of the amendment of The Protocol on the ECOWAS Community Court to challenge the violations of the human rights of ECOWAS citizens.
WABA’s major objectives include pushing for the respect for human rights in West Africa and the adherence to international human rights instruments, particularly the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights; providing improved legal services to the public including efficient legal aid services to the poor in the sub-region; and encouraging co-operation with other professional associations and bodies , such as the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) and International Bar Association (IBA). WABA’s main funder is the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).
Track Record
WABA has been successful in integrating countries of ECOWAS in legal terms and has also substantially helped attain the independence of national bar associations, even though numerous challenges still prevail. WABA has held workshops on Access to Justice in West Africa as well as cross border practice in the Sub Region making justice more available, more accessible and more affordable to the citizens of ECOWAS.
Challenges
One of the main objectives of WABA is to assure the independence of the national bars of its member countries. The concept of an independent bar association is an idea that has a fundamentally constitutional character. Independence and good bar governance might not assure its one hundred percent success, but bad governance and interference will completely destroy it. Therefore, total independence and good governance are necessary in the functioning of the national bar associations in West Africa. However, the main challenge is that there is no fast and hard rule or single formula to define independence.
Opportunities
Technology has advanced the cause of law in that justice in many parts of the world had suffered protracted delay until the intervention of technology in recent years. Technology has essentially simplified access to justice and made available necessary materials with respect to decided cases in all parts of the world. Indeed, WABA has proposed to the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that it help provide opportunities for lawyers and parties in the sub-region to access the Community Court through the internet so as to reduce the cost of litigation. Such an important initiative is worthy of support.
