is also a Member.
45 Despite this, it is not part of the protocol of revision that
amended article 9 of the ECOWAS Treaty and consequently instituted a new regime
of normative acts.
46 At least from a constitutional point of view and under its article
12, paragraph 3, though international normative acts of organisations of which Cape
Verde is a member are also considered to be domestic law with direct application, in
order to produce such effect, the country must have given prior consent to such a
power by accepting the treaty that establishes it, which is not the case. But the
application of this ECOWAS normative act in Cape Verde becomes even more
tricky because the Supplementary Act was signed by a Minister, even though he
lacked the power to directly bind the country without Parliamentary consent and
presidential acceptance, which could arguably mean that the country is internationally bound by the instrument, even though it is not law of the land. But, under its own
terms (article 48), the Act would be in force only after publication in the official
gazettes of ECOWAS and of Member States, and in the case of Cape Verde this
failed to happen.
It is important to stress that as a result of a very particular confluence of facts, the
structure of the regime of data protection by the above-mentioned ECOWAS Act
was influenced by European Union Law on that domain that was in force in 2010,
47
which, coincidently, is the same remote inspiration for the Cape Verdean Data
Protection legislation—through the intermediation of the Portuguese Legislation
on the same topic—and other recent national developments in this field.
European Influences and Sources of the Law Though independent from this, in
the last 10 years, the borrowing of European legislation is being justified by an
agreement on a special partnership that the Archipelago maintains with the Union.
This understanding includes a topic on normative convergence, specifically paragraph 5.4., which stresses as a main focus of the bond “Convergence of technology
and standards policies in the sectors covered by the action plan in order to facilitate
alignment on EU standards and support Cape Verde’s comparative advantages with
a view to its development”. And another, article 5.5., that underlines the aim of
encouraging “Cape Verde’s progress towards the “knowledge based society”. (. . .)
in particular through education, research and the ownership/development of information technology (a sector in which Cape Verde possesses some notable assets in
the area of e-government).”
48
The National Authority on Personal Data Protection once stressed that because a
ministerial ordinance had as its main source of influence a homologous act from the
45 See Supplementary Act A/SA.1/01/10 on Personal Data Protection within ECOWAS, 37th
Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government, Abuja, 16th February 2010, and, for
a general presentation, Orji (2017).
46 See Ukaigwe (2016), Chap. 2.
47 See Greenleaf (2012), pp. 68–92.
48 For the text, see Commission of the European Communities (2007), and, for a general presentation, Guedes Vieira and Ferreira-Pereira (2007).
Data Protection in the Internet: Cape Verde’s National Report
83
45 Despite this, it is not part of the protocol of revision that
amended article 9 of the ECOWAS Treaty and consequently instituted a new regime
of normative acts.
46 At least from a constitutional point of view and under its article
12, paragraph 3, though international normative acts of organisations of which Cape
Verde is a member are also considered to be domestic law with direct application, in
order to produce such effect, the country must have given prior consent to such a
power by accepting the treaty that establishes it, which is not the case. But the
application of this ECOWAS normative act in Cape Verde becomes even more
tricky because the Supplementary Act was signed by a Minister, even though he
lacked the power to directly bind the country without Parliamentary consent and
presidential acceptance, which could arguably mean that the country is internationally bound by the instrument, even though it is not law of the land. But, under its own
terms (article 48), the Act would be in force only after publication in the official
gazettes of ECOWAS and of Member States, and in the case of Cape Verde this
failed to happen.
It is important to stress that as a result of a very particular confluence of facts, the
structure of the regime of data protection by the above-mentioned ECOWAS Act
was influenced by European Union Law on that domain that was in force in 2010,
47
which, coincidently, is the same remote inspiration for the Cape Verdean Data
Protection legislation—through the intermediation of the Portuguese Legislation
on the same topic—and other recent national developments in this field.
European Influences and Sources of the Law Though independent from this, in
the last 10 years, the borrowing of European legislation is being justified by an
agreement on a special partnership that the Archipelago maintains with the Union.
This understanding includes a topic on normative convergence, specifically paragraph 5.4., which stresses as a main focus of the bond “Convergence of technology
and standards policies in the sectors covered by the action plan in order to facilitate
alignment on EU standards and support Cape Verde’s comparative advantages with
a view to its development”. And another, article 5.5., that underlines the aim of
encouraging “Cape Verde’s progress towards the “knowledge based society”. (. . .)
in particular through education, research and the ownership/development of information technology (a sector in which Cape Verde possesses some notable assets in
the area of e-government).”
48
The National Authority on Personal Data Protection once stressed that because a
ministerial ordinance had as its main source of influence a homologous act from the
45 See Supplementary Act A/SA.1/01/10 on Personal Data Protection within ECOWAS, 37th
Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government, Abuja, 16th February 2010, and, for
a general presentation, Orji (2017).
46 See Ukaigwe (2016), Chap. 2.
47 See Greenleaf (2012), pp. 68–92.
48 For the text, see Commission of the European Communities (2007), and, for a general presentation, Guedes Vieira and Ferreira-Pereira (2007).
Data Protection in the Internet: Cape Verde’s National Report
83