The role of regional courts in the promotion of regional integration: a case study of the ECJ and the EACJ

This dissertation examines the role played by Courts in the promotion of regional integration. The European Union and the East African Community have been taken as examples in order to reach our specific objectives which will be to understand, through analysis, the role played by the European Court of Justice and the East African Court of Justice in promoting the integration of the European Union and the East African Community and finally, to highlight what the East African Court justice could learn from the European Court of Justice. For the purpose of a well-rounded analysis of this study, the notion of “Regional Integration” has been explained including its aspects. This allowed the researcher to understand and then to discover the contribution made by the European Court of Justice through its judgments by declaring the principles of “directs effect” and “supremacy”. The East African Court of Justice was also seen to have contributed in promoting EAC integration by interpreting and then complying with principles established by the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community. However, several obstacles have been discovered to be a threat to the overall realization of the East African Court of Justice’s role.