ABUJA, Nigeria — Liberian lawyer and law professor Charlyne M. Brumskine was elected president of the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Tuesday, a week after she was sworn in as one of five new judges on the regional bench.
By Rodney D. Sieh
Her fellow judges chose her on 13 October 2026 to lead the Abuja-based court, the judicial arm of the West African bloc, for a two-year term. The election makes Justice Brumskine, the first Liberian woman to sit on the court, the head of an institution that rules on disputes between member states, ECOWAS institutions and individuals, including human rights complaints brought by ordinary citizens of the region.
“With profound humility and a deep sense of duty, I address you as the newly elected President of this distinguished judicial institution,” she said in her acceptance address.
“I am sincerely grateful to my esteemed colleagues for the confidence they have each reposed in me. I accept this responsibility fully conscious of the obligations it entails and the expectations that accompany leading a regional judicial institution entrusted with interpreting and applying community law and protecting human rights.”
She said she saw the presidency as a duty rather than an honour. “I regard this office not as a personal distinction, but as an opportunity to serve the courts, the ECOWAS community, and ultimately the people of West Africa,” she said.
What the president does
As president, Justice Brumskine presides over the court’s hearings and deliberations and directs its judicial business, including assigning cases and scheduling proceedings.
She also chairs the Bureau of the Court, which sets its strategic direction, work programme and budget priorities, and she oversees the Registry and the court’s administration.
Beyond the courtroom, she is the court’s public face. She represents it externally, presents its activity report and budget to the statutory bodies of ECOWAS, and works with national judiciaries, other regional and continental courts, bar associations and civil society groups to widen access to justice.
A central part of that role is persuading member states to comply with and enforce the court’s judgments, a long-standing challenge for the institution, which has no enforcement arm of its own and depends on national governments to carry out its rulings.
A court open to citizens
Established under ECOWAS treaty provisions and operational since 2001, the court interprets and applies the bloc’s laws and settles disputes over them. Its reach widened significantly in 2005, when a supplementary protocol allowed individuals to bring human rights cases directly before it without first exhausting remedies in their national courts.
That feature has made the court one of the most accessible regional human rights forums in Africa. Citizens, journalists and civil society groups have used it to challenge arbitrary detention, restrictions on free expression and other alleged abuses by their own governments.
Justice Brumskine takes office at a delicate moment for the bloc. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, all under military rule, formally withdrew from ECOWAS in January 2025, placing their citizens outside the court’s jurisdiction and testing the community’s cohesion.
Five new judges sworn in
Justice Brumskine was among five judges inducted on Tuesday, 6 October, at the ECOWAS Commission headquarters in Abuja for the 2026–2030 term. Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, administered the oath of office.
The other new judges are Désiré Henri Aihou of Benin, Awa Bah of The Gambia, Henrietta Uzoamaka Didigu of Nigeria and Yaouza Ouro-Sama of Togo.
They replace five judges whose four-year mandates have ended: Ricardo Cláudio Monteiro Gonçalves of Cape Verde, Sengu Mohamed Koroma of Sierra Leone, Dupe Atoki of Nigeria, Gberi-Bè Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire and Edward Amoako Asante of Ghana.
The judges elect a president and a vice-president from among themselves, each serving a two-year term.
‘Institutions endure’
In her address, Justice Brumskine described the handover from the outgoing to the incoming judges as a moment of “continuity, renewal and collective responsibility.” She said the new leadership must build on the foundations laid by its predecessors rather than start afresh.
“Today’s transition reminds us that the institutions endure beyond the individuals who serve them,” she said.
She paid tribute to past presidents and outgoing judges, saying their experience and contribution to the court’s case law would underpin the work ahead.
The incoming judges have received handover notes, reports on the state of the court and legal and administrative records, which she said would be reviewed carefully to ensure continuity in governance and operations.
“These documents represent more than formal records. They provide a basis of understanding the institution’s current position, ongoing responsibilities, operational challenges, and priorities requiring our attention,” she said.
She pledged to lead with “seriousness, openness and a commitment to responsible institutional stewardship.”
‘Liberia can reciprocate’
For Liberians, the appointment carries particular weight. ECOWAS sent its ECOMOG peacekeeping force into Liberia in 1990, during the country’s civil war, and helped broker the 2003 Accra peace agreement that ended 14 years of conflict.
Justice Brumskine drew on that history in her remarks.
“The concept of regional justice and rule of law is not new to Liberia. ECOWAS played a role in Liberia’s recovery to peace. Now Liberia has the opportunity to reciprocate justice by sending one of its own to the Court,” she said.
“This distinction is not about me but the collective good of the region. I am proud that Liberia has been given the opportunity to lead this regional judicial institution. I will serve with excellence.”
Lawyer, teacher, politician
Justice Brumskine brings more than two decades of legal experience to the post. She founded the Monrovia-based CMB Law Group, is licensed to practise in Liberia, New York and Washington, D.C., and has taught at the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law at the University of Liberia.
She has also worked on public policy, including an anti-human trafficking framework with Liberia’s Ministry of Justice and the country’s accession to the World Trade Organization.
In 2023, she was the vice-presidential running mate of opposition leader Alexander Cummings of the Collaborating Political Parties. She is the daughter of the late Charles Walker Brumskine, a prominent lawyer and four-time presidential candidate who died in 2019.
Two Liberian men, Micah Wilkins Wright and Yussif D. Kaba, have previously served on the ECOWAS Court.
For Liberia, her election places the country at the head of a regional institution whose credibility rests on its independence, the quality of its judgments and, above all, on whether member states respect them.