- Appeal that is limited to specific points of the judgment.
* Whereas the devolutive effect of an appeal means that the Court of Appeal has full and
total knowledge of the litigation and must adjudicate in fact and in law with the same
powers as the trial judge, the devolution occurs only where the appeal relates to all the
provisions of the first judgment.
The extent of the devolutive effect of the appeal will thus be determined by two
procedural acts, that is, the statement of appeal or the notice of appeal that will
not only limit the applicant's claims, but also the submissions of the parties
which may contain new claims not mentioned in the notice of appeal.
¢ Limited appeal, for its part, means that the appeal is confined to specific points in the
judgment.
15.Where the judge makes a ruling outside these two types of appeal and
adjudicates on claims that have not been expressed, he/she will have ruled
ultra petita, which will generate effects as regards appreciation of the decision.
16.\With respect to the allegation that the 30-year sentence was inappropriate, the
Court declared “that the alleged violations of the rights of the Applicants
occurred in the course of domestic proceedings which led to the finding of guilt
and to the sentence pronounced against them. The allegations raised by the
Applicant therefore is part of the bundle of rights and guarantees that were
related to or were the basis of their appeals. It follows that the domestic
courts have had ample opportunity to address these allegations, even
without the Applicants having to raise them”,
17.The Court's conclusion as regards local remedies in relation to claims which
have not been subjected to such remedies touches deeply on the prerogatives
of the appellate courts and the scope of their jurisdiction over the case brought
before them after the appeal and also on the purpose of imposing the
exhaustion of domestic remedies on the Applicants as a right of Respondent
States to review their decisions and thus avoid being arraigned before
international bodies.
18.In my opinion: The Court should have consulted the domestic texts which
govern the procedure and the jurisdiction of appellate judges in criminal
matters, rather than rely on the elastic concept of bundle of rights which will
time and again give it the power to examine and adjudicate claims that have
® Paragraph 44 of the Judgment