Ecowas Court of Justice called to judge the legality of Niger Law No. 36/2015
The press conference will be held online on 22 September 2022 at 11:00 a.m. CEST
Niger is one of the main partners of the European Union, and in particular of Italy, in the implementation of border externalization policies.
From 2016, thanks to huge European economic contributions, it has been turned into a stalemate for the movements that go from West Africa to North Africa and Europe.
Over the past year, ASGI, together with a pool of lawyers and jurists from Niger, Nigeria and the World Organization Against Torture, has supported the Association Malienne des Expulsés and Alarm Phone Sahara in the presentation of an appeal to the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of the States of West Africa against the Nigerian law n. 36 of 2015. The law, significantly called the “Valletta” law by some members of Nigerian civil society, is one of the main instruments to combat the transit of migrants in the country. Its implementation has resulted in the multiplication of violations of freedom of movement in the ECOWAS area over the past six years and has exposed people in transit to violence, abuse and torture.
Now the ECOWAS Court of Justice is called to analyze its legitimacy.
