application and whether the pleas-in-law and evidence produced essentially go to
establish such violation”.
However, access to the Court being an Interstate Court is strictly regulated by its
Constitutive Texts and nothing else. The Constitutive Texts prescribe various
categories of persons (both natural and juristic) clothed with capacity to access the
jurisdiction of the Court in respect of certain causes of action. It is settled law that
the test for the validity of the institution of an action, as far as the capacity of the
party is concerned, is whether the party has been granted access to the Court by
the latter’s constitutive texts.
As presently constituted, access to this Court is provided for under Article 4 of
Supplementary Protocol A/SP.1/01/05 amending the Protocol of 1991
(A/P1/7/91) on the Court by the insertion of a new Article 10 which provides as
follows:
Article 10: Access to the Court
Under Article 10, access to the Court by corporate bodies is provided for:
c)
Individuals and corporate bodies in proceedings for the determination of
an act or inaction of the Community official which violate the rights of the
individuals or corporate bodies;
d)
Individuals on application for relief for violation of their human rights; the
submission of application for which shall:
i)
not be anonymous; nor
ii)
be made whilst the same matter has been instituted before another
International Court for adjudication;
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