Making regional economic community laws enforceable in national legal systems - constitutional and judicial challenges

Abstract

absence of law translation creates a disjunction between the community and national legal systems. It leads to the alienation of natural and legal persons from the economic integration processes and their benefits. Generally, it undermines the effectiveness of economic integration. Law translation enhances the effectiveness of regional economic integration processes. It decentralises the community law enforcement machinery and makes it accessible to residents of the economic community. Decentralisation reduces the burden on the community’s institutional structures set up to monitor and seek redress for violations of community laws. Law translation encompasses all processes and principles that render international law capable of enforcement or application within national legal systems. Examples of these are national incorporation of international law, use of foreign laws as aids to construction, use of foreign laws as the applicable law under the rules of private international law, and taking judicial notice of foreign laws. A number of factors influence the extent to which community laws can be effectively translated within national legal systems. They include national constitutions, judicial philosophy which informs judgments, legal culture and public awareness. Drawing on materials from Eastern, Southern and Western African states and economic integration processes in these regions, this paper comparatively explores from constitutional and case-law perspectives how law translation is approached in