Full context:   Between 2012 and 2017, four AU member states decriminalized defamation. Other national courts defended criminal defamation's place in their constitution [sic]. Regional courts pressured countries to decriminalize defamation. The ECOWAS Court of Justice, which had jurisdiction over cases pertaining to human rights violations since 2005, set a precedent with two rulings in favour of cases challenging the criminalization of defamation.