Five Types of Community Legal Acts.
Regulations
Acts of general application, binding in their entirety and directly applicable in all Member States without the need for transposition.
Directives
Acts that set objectives for Member States to achieve, while leaving them the choice of form and methods for transposing them into national law.
Decisions
Acts binding on those to whom they are addressed (States, institutions or individuals). They may create individual rights and obligations.
Recommendations and Opinions
Non-binding acts that express the position of ECOWAS institutions and guide Member States’ policies without binding force.
Who Adopts Regulations?
of Heads of State and Government
of Ministers
Directly Applicable Texts
Community regulations take precedence over national laws. They create rights and obligations for citizens and may be invoked before national courts and the ECOWAS Court of Justice.