The East African Court of Justice has launched a new strategic plan at a gathering marking 25 years of regional judicial work, where its president also called for stronger implementation of judgments and consideration of a permanent home for the court.
The plan covers the financial years 2026/2027 to 2031/2032. Its launch formed part of a symposium at the East African Community headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, on 12 November. More than 200 delegates attended, including judges, government leaders and legal practitioners.
The meeting also adopted a communiqué capturing issues and recommendations raised during the discussions. The launch and the communiqué do not themselves establish that the court has received new powers or that a permanent seat has been approved.
Judgments and jurisdiction
Justice Nestor Kayobera, the court’s president, told the gathering that the authority of a court depends on the implementation of its decisions as well as their quality. He called for practical and sustainable measures to support timely compliance.
Under the East African Community Treaty, a partner state or the community’s Council of Ministers must take the measures required to implement a judgment without delay. The anniversary discussion focused on how compliance could be strengthened; the gathering did not announce a new enforcement mechanism or decide a specific case.
Kayobera also highlighted the operationalisation of extended jurisdiction covering trade, investment and monetary union matters. The treaty provides for additional jurisdiction to be determined and for partner states to conclude a protocol to put it into effect. The call at the symposium should not be confused with an announcement that those proposed extensions are already operating.
One panel examined enforcement and the proposed extension together. Another considered how the court’s dispute-resolution role could support regional commercial justice. A third looked back at the institution’s development and early decisions.
A regional court for a larger community
The court was inaugurated on 30 November 2001, after the treaty establishing the revived East African Community was signed in 1999. Its role is to ensure adherence to law in the interpretation and application of, and compliance with, that treaty. It has a First Instance Division and an Appellate Division, established in 2006.
When the court began work, the community comprised Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. It now has eight partner states. The wider membership has increased the demands placed on the regional institution, according to the community’s secretary-general, Stephen Mbundi.
Mbundi told the symposium that the court had registered a cumulative 1,032 matters by August 2026. That figure describes matters registered over time, not a count of cases concluded. He called for greater judicial, financial and staffing capacity, alongside digital facilities to help manage cases.
Under the treaty, a person resident in a partner state may bring a challenge concerning the legality of certain acts or decisions by a state or community institution. Such proceedings are subject to the treaty’s jurisdictional limits and time requirements. The court also has an arbitration role where the relevant parties have conferred jurisdiction on it under an applicable agreement.
Arbitration and a permanent seat
Mbundi said arbitration through the court remained underused. He said he had instructed community organs and institutions to provide for the court’s arbitration as the primary way of resolving disputes in their agreements when an amicable settlement cannot be reached. That instruction concerns agreements involving those bodies; it is not a requirement that every private commercial dispute across the region go to the court.
Kayobera also asked political leaders to consider a permanent seat. The court currently operates from temporary premises in Arusha, and the treaty assigns the decision on its seat to the community’s summit of heads of state. The appeal leaves that decision open rather than confirming a new building or location.
In April, judges and court staff met in Arusha to review a draft strategic plan for 2026 to 2031. The subjects included the court’s visibility, institutional capacity and independence, funding, technology and jurisdiction. The workshop aimed to review the draft’s goals, targets and implementation framework before its finalisation and adoption.
Uganda’s first deputy prime minister, Rebecca Kadaga, presided over the anniversary gathering and delivered an address on behalf of President Yoweri Museveni, who chairs the community’s heads-of-state summit. His message emphasised removing barriers to regional trade and resolving commercial disputes more quickly. In his closing remarks, Kayobera reaffirmed the court’s commitment to judicial independence, impartiality and integrity.
