What are the legal challenges which exist , if any with regard to the enforcement of SADC tribunal's judical decisions

Abstract

Abstract provided by author

The establishment of the Southern African Development Community Tribunal (SADC Tribunal) is a major event in the history of SADC as an organization and in the development of SADC Law and Jurisprudence. The Tribunal was established in 1992 by Article 9 of the SADC Treaty as one of the institutions of SADC. To ensure independence of the tribunal , Article 17(2) of the SADC Treaty provides that in performance of their duties, the members of the Tribunal shall be committed to the international character of SADC and shall not seek or receive instructions from any member of state or from any external authority . The creation of the tribunal was to heal domestic failures in human rights even though such matters are not the general aim of the institution or its mandate for regional integration. The main function of the tribunal is to ensure adherence to law within the SADC Regional block in the interpretation and application of the SADC Treaty and generally to adjudicate on disputes arising within the community provided they fall under its jurisdiction. The decisions made by the tribunal are binding on member states. One aspect that is particularly problematic with the SADC Tribunal is non compliance by member states with the tribunal's judicial decisions. The problem is mainly caused by the issue of state sovereignty as opposed to respect for judicial decisions made by the regional courts. Not much has been researched on non compliance with judicial decisions as the SADC Tribunal is a newly operationalised court in Africa. This research presents an in-depth analysis on the challenges, if any, with regard to the SADC Tribunal judicial decisions