Arusha, Tanzania Website: www.african-court.org Telephone: +255-272-510-510 JUDGMENT SUMMARY principles of equality before the law and equal protection of the law as provided for under Article 3 of the Charter and article 14(1) of the ICCPR. The Applicants further argued that the same provisions violate Article 7(1)(a) of the Charter and article 14(1) of the ICCPR by ousting the jurisdiction of the courts in the Respondent State. In respect of this allegation, the Court recalled its earlier jurisprudence, noting that the provisions that oust the jurisdiction of the courts deprive litigants of remedies to exhaust. The Court found that given the provisions of article 74(12) of the Respondent State’s Constitution and article 119(13) of the Constitution of Zanzibar, the Applicants did not have a remedy that was available, sufficient and effective to exhaust before approaching the Court. The Court thus held that the Application met the admissibility requirements in respect of this claim. Fifthly, the Court considered whether the Application met the admissibility requirements in relation to the claim that the prohibition to join political parties for persons involved in the management of elections violated Articles 1, 3, 13(1) of the Charter, Article 21 of the UDHR and Article 25 of the ICCPR. With regard to this claim, the Court noted that the Applicants had failed to provide any evidence of the exhaustion of local remedies, or to demonstrate that the remedies were unavailable. The Court, therefore, found that the Applicants did not exhaust the domestic remedies on the allegations relating to article 74(14) of the Respondent State’s Constitution, and held that the Application did not meet the requirement on exhaustion of domestic remedies. Having assessed all the requirements relating to exhaustion of domestic remedies, the Court held that the Application fulfilled the said requirement only in respect of the allegations relating to article 74(12) of the Respondent State’s Constitution and article 119(13) of the Constitution of Zanzibar. The Court then considered whether article 74(12) of the Respondent State’s Constitution and article 119(13) of the Constitution of Zanzibar violated the principles of equality before the law and equal protection of the law as protected under Article 3 of the Charter and Article 14(1) of the ICCPR. The Court also considered the allegation by the Applicants that the same 6