17. By letter and Note Verbale respectively dated 14 and 15 December 2010,
both parties were informed of the African Commission’s decision to defer
consideration of the Communication to its 49th Ordinary Session, in order
to allow the Secretariat draft a decision on the Admissibility of the
Communication.
The Law on Admissibility
18. The Admissibility of Communications submitted pursuant to Article 55 of
the African Charter is governed by the conditions stipulated in Article 56
of the same Charter.
The Complainants’ Submission on Admissibility
19. The Complainants submit that the present Communication fulfils all the
Admissibility requirements set out in Article 56 of the African Charter.
Regarding Article 56(5) in particular on the exhaustion of local remedies,
they aver that the Victim initially filed her case before the High Court of
Kenya where she received a favourable decision. This decision was
subsequently overruled on appeal by a full bench of the Appeal Court of
Kenya. The full bench of the Kenya Appeal Court being the court of final
instance in all legal matters in Kenya, the Complainants argue that they
have exhausted local remedies and urge the African Commission to
declare the Communication admissible.
The Respondent State’s Submissions on Admissibility
20. In its response to the Submissions of the Complainants, the Respondent
State contends that the Communication does not adhere to the
requirements of Article 56 of the African Charter and should therefore be
declared inadmissible.
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