40. In the determination of the question the Court will be guided by the provisions of Article 9 (1) & (2) of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights which provides as follows: 1. Every individual shall have the right to receive information. 2. Every individual shall have the right to express and disseminate his opinions within the law. 41. The Applicants brought this action before this Court against the Respondent state of the Republic of Togo. The basis of their claim is that following the internet shutdown that took place in Togo, their right to freedom of expression especially the right to search and receive information freely was violated by the Respondent. For an action to succeed under this head, the Applicants must establish two key elements as follows: i. That the right to freedom of expression has been interfered with or disrupted. ii. That the interference or disruption, as the case may be, were not sanctioned or done in accordance with the law. 42. The Applicants submitted that the Respondent shut down the internet access thereby denying them the right to exercise their right to freedom of expression and that the shutting down was an interference. 43. The Applicants further submitted that at the time of the shutdown of the internet by the Respondent, there was neither a law in force that gave the mandate to shut down internet access nor can the Respondent rely on subsequent legislations to justify the shutdown of internet access. The Respondent did not deny the shutting down but sought to rely on national security interest in its defense as justification for the shutdown. 44. At this point, the Applicants having challenged the Respondent firstly, that there was no law pursuant to which the shutdown was effected, secondly that subsequent law legislated by the Respondent cannot be sufficient grounds to serve as justification for the shutting down and thirdly that there was no emergency existing in the state to warrant shutting down as claimed by the Respondent. This 12 | P a g e