34. The Court observes that the Respondent State objects to the admissibility
of the Application based on the alleged non-exhaustion of local remedies by
the Applicant. The Court will, therefore, consider the said objection first
before examining other admissibility requirements, if necessary.
A. Objection based on failure to exhaust local remedies
35. The Respondent State contends that the Applicant does not meet the
admissibility requirements provided under Rule 50(2)(e) of the Rules, as he
did not exhaust all local remedies before filling this Application. It reiterates
that the exhaustion of local remedies is a fundamental principle of
international law as confirmed by the Court’s judgments in Urban
Mkandawire v. Republic of Malawi and Peter Joseph Chacha v. United
Republic of Tanzania.
36. In this regard, the Respondent State submits that the “Applicant never made
an attempt to exhaust the available remedies and give the Respondent the
opportunity to address his alleged grievances.” The Respondent State also
points out that that “the Applicant had another remedy available to him
whereby he could contest and challenge the alleged fundamental rights
violations he has brought before this Honourable Court.” It contends that the
Applicant could have instituted a constitutional petition before its High Court,
under the Basic Rights and Duties Enforcement Act. It is the Respondent
State’s submission, therefore, that the failure to institute the constitutional
petition means that the Applicant does not meet the admissibility
requirements under the Charter and the Rules.
*
37. The Court observes that under Article 56(5) of the Charter, the provisions of
which are restated in Rule 50(2)(e) of the Rules, any application filed before
it shall fulfil the requirement of exhaustion of local remedies unless the same
are unavailable, ineffective and insufficient or unless the domestic
10
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents