Comesa court blocks inauguration of new judges

The Comesa Court of Justice has suspended the appointment of new judges who were elected in November last year, pending the determination of an application by an aggrieved applicant.

Ethiopian national Tewodros Getachew Tulu successfully obtained an injunction blocking the secretariat from proceeding with the preparations for the swearing-in of the judges-elect.

Mr Tewodros alleges that the conduct of the Secretary-General Chileshe Mpudu Kapwepwe during the election violated the rules of procedure of electing new judges.

He further alleges that the Mauritian candidate, A. F Chui Cheong, was not eligible to be elected as a judge because of her age, having retired from the Mauritius Supreme Court eight years ago.

“A preliminary injunction is issued, restraining the respondent from proceedings with the appointment of judges to the Comesa Court of Justice following the election of the Comesa Ministers of Justice and Attorneys-General on 21st of November 2024, and adopted on 28th of November 2024 by the Council of Ministers, until this application is heard and determined,” ruled Qinisile Mabuza, the principal judge of the First Instance Division.

The judge also directed the secretariat and the Mauritian to file their responses before May 21, ahead of the hearing on May 29.

Mr Tewodros, the president of the first statutory Ethiopian Federal Bar Association, says that there was communication from Mauritius that its candidate was unable to assume the role for personal reasons, but the secretariat failed to notify the Registrar about Cheong’s withdrawal and that the candidate opted to retake the post.

“The Applicant hereby demonstrates that the conduct of the Secretary-General did not follow the Court’s established Rules of Procedure,” the Ethiopian said.

He recalled that the secretary-general sent a letter to the Ministry of Justice in Ethiopia on April 5, 2024, calling for nomination of a candidate for election to serve as a judge.

The ministry then nominated Tewodros and sent a nomination letter dated October 7, 2024 alongside his curriculum vitae. He said the Secretary-General confirmed receipt of the nomination letter and CV, through e-mail on the same date.

“In an unusual manner, several weeks after the receipt of the Applicant’s Nomination Letter and CV, the Secretary-General denied receipt of the same in attempt to disqualify the Applicant from the electoral process, on the eve of the election date,” he said.

The court was told that there were attempts to disqualify him on account of a missing CV, but Ethiopia re-submitted the document a day before the election date.

He added that although Ethiopia was formally designated a permanent representative to Comesa, to take part in crucial discussions, the Secretary-General excluded or precluded the Ethiopian representative from taking part on the relevant meetings, including on the election day.

“This exclusion continued by ignoring the Ethiopian representative’s repeated requests to join the meeting on Election Day at a later stage using virtual platforms,” he said, adding that there was no intention by the Secretary-General and her office to remedy the situation.

The complainant said the Secretary-General and her legal counsel received a nomination from the Burundian candidate on the day of the election against the rules.

“This clearly contravenes Rule no. 7 of the Rules of Procedure for the Election of Judges of the Comesa Court (2005), which stipulates that the CV of all the candidates must be disseminated to the member state Attorney-General/Ministers of Justice Council before the election,” he said.

He said denying him the post would cost him benefits attached to the position for the next five years which, at minimum, amount to $200,000.

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