183. Consequently, it orders the Respondent State to take all necessary
measures to redress this situation and to make the structure of HJC
statutorily and functionally consistent with Article 26 of the Charter, on the
one hand, by repealing the following provisions of the HJC organic law:
those that make the President of the Republic a member of the HJC and
Chair of the HJC, those that entitle the President of the Republic to appoint
members of the HJC, and those that make other members of the executive
members of the HJC and, on the other hand, by making the President of the
Supreme Court Chair of the HJC.
ii.
Article 410(3) of the Penal Code
184. The Court found that the Respondent State violated the right to freedom of
opinion and expression protected by Article 9 (2) of the Charter and Article
19 of the ICCPR, by virtue of Article 410 (3) of its Criminal Code.
185. The Court therefore orders the Respondent State to take all measures to
bring Article 410(3) of the Penal Code in line with Article 9(2) of the Charter
and Article 19 of the ICCPR which guarantee freedom of opinion and
expression with regard to technical comments on judicial decisions.
iii.
Annulment of the decisions of the Constitutional Court
186. The Applicant states that despite this Court's decisions ordering the repeal
of the constitutional amendment and the Electoral Code, the Constitutional
Court of the Respondent State, by Decisions DCC 21-011, DC 21-008, DCC
21-010 of 7 January 2021, rejected the requests of Beninese citizens to
declare the impugned provisions of these laws unconstitutional. The
Applicant requests the Court to annul these decisions of the Constitutional
Court.
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