Implementation of East African Community Law by Partner States: A review of relevant laws

Augustus Mbila

doi:10.52907/slr.v5i1.120

Abstract

On 30 November 1999, the Heads of State of the East African Community met in Arusha, Tanzania, and concluded the Treaty for the establishment of the East African Community. The Treaty came into force on 7 July 2000. The founding members of this Community were Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Rwanda and Burundi acceded to the Treaty in 2007 while South Sudan acceded to the Treaty in 2016. While the treaty has the potential of promoting unity among the partner states, this is threatened by the fact that it fails to address how Partner States should implement it. A critical analysis of the jurisprudence from the East African Court of Justice and those of the Court of Justice of the European Union shows that community law is an autonomous legal order in which Partner States have accepted to cede part of their sovereignty to the community. Therefore, community law, unlike international law which houses it, has primacy over the municipal law of the Partner States, notwithstanding their constitutional philosophies. This paper seeks to examine how East African Community Law is implemented by partner states by reviewing the EAC Treaty, the decisions of the East African Court of Justice and the municipal laws of partner states. Decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the implementation of European Union Law by Partner States of the European Union are discussed as lessons to be learnt in the East African Community.

Highlights

The Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community, 1999 (‘the EAC Treaty’) was concluded to strengthen the economic, social, cultural, political, technological and other ties of the Partner States for their balanced and sustainable development.[1]
The EAC Treaty stipulates how the Treaty itself will be implemented in the legal systems of the Partner States, the Partner States have their individualised approaches towards implementing international law, in which regional integration law is housed
In the case of The East African Law Society v The Secretary General of the East African Community,[125] the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) was asked to declare that Article 54 (2) of the Common Market Protocol which conferred jurisdiction relating to disputes arising from the Protocol to national courts of Partner States ousted the jurisdiction of the EACJ in such matters

Summary

Introduction

The Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community, 1999 (‘the EAC Treaty’) was concluded to strengthen the economic, social, cultural, political, technological and other ties of the Partner States for their balanced and sustainable development.[1]. The Republics of Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan acceded to the EAC Treaty much later.[4] the EAC Treaty stipulates how the Treaty itself will be implemented in the legal systems of the Partner States, the Partner States have their individualised approaches towards implementing international law, in which regional integration law is housed. These approaches are likely to impede the implementation of the EAC Treaty and decisions of organs of the Community. The decisions of national laws of Partner States relating to the implementation of East African Community Law will be analysed

The Nature of Community Law

The Nature and Effect of EAC Law on Partner States’ Legal Systems

Municipal Law of EAC Partner States

Implementing EAC Law in National Legal Systems

Conclusion