Communication 341/07 - Equality Now v Ethiopia
communication/complaint procedure before the African Commission, are the
ordinary remedies of common law that exist in jurisdictions and normally
accessible to people seeking justice" , and that "the internal remedy [to] which
article 56(5) refers entails remedy sought from courts of a judicial nature..."
Furthermore, the Commission's Information Sheet No. 3 , also states that "[t]he
author [of a Communication] must have taken the matter to all the available
domestic legal remedies. That is, he or she must have taken the case to the highest
court of the land."
80.
The Commission further recalls its jurisprudence that in order for the rule of
exhaustion of local remedies to apply, remedies in the Respondent State must be
available, effective and sufficient. A "remedy is considered available if the
petitioner can pursue it without impediment; it is deemed effective if it offers a
prospect of success, and it is found sufficient if it is capable of redressing the
complaint".
81.
On their part, the Complainants argue and the Commission agrees, that the case of
Woineshet went up to the highest court in the Respondent State - the Federal
Supreme Court's Cassation bench, which declined to hear the matter. This fact has
not been disputed by the Respondent State. Indeed, the Commission notes that the
Respondent State, in its own submission, avers that the Federal Supreme Court's
Cassation bench is "the final judicial body in the hierarchy of the Ethiopian judicial
system".
82.
The Commission also agrees with the contention of the Complainants that the
initiation of new legal proceedings against against Aberew, has no bearing on the
issue of exhaustion of domestic remedies by Woineshet, prior to filing the
Communication with the Commission, on the basis that the Respondent State's own
submission states that the Justice Bureau of Oromiya wrote to the Arsi Zonal Justice
Department on 10 October 2007 regarding the institution of the further charge
against Aberew - almost three months after the Respondent State received
notification of the Communication before the Commission.
83.
Furthermore, the Commission observes that the Respondent State has also not
denied the contention by the Complainants that there are no further remedies
under Ethiopian law that can be exercised by Woineshet, and that she has no legal
right to seek further action by the Government of the Respondent State against
Aberew. To this end, the Commission holds the view that the steps taken by the
Complainants constitute exhaustion of domestic remedies, as the alleged
discretionary procedure of initiating a new charge of statutory rape against Abefoew
by the Arsi Zone Prosecutor's office is not within the power of the Victim to pursi
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