Communication 431/12 – Thomas Kwoyelo v. Uganda since the appeal was lodged and there is no indication as to when the Supreme Court will hear the matter because it does not have the requisite quorum to do so. 46. While it is the contention of the Respondent State that the Supreme Court has the necessary quorum and should be given the opportunity to hear the appeal, the Commission has confirmed that the Court does indeed have a quorum since 1 August 2013 but does not have the necessary quorum to hear appeals of a constitutional character which can only be decided with a quorum of 7 judges.7 47. It follows that at the material time, the Supreme Court did not have the requisite quorum to hear the victim’s case. In the present circumstances, the Commission considers that the Supreme Court cannot be considered an available remedy for purposes of exhaustion of local remedies given that at the material time, it could not hear the case in question and there was no indication of the time when the Court will be regularly constituted to hear such cases. It is evident therefore that the remedy could not be utilised in the present case and cannot therefore be invoked to the detriment of the Complainant.8 48. The Respondent State has failed to persuade the Commission that at the material time, the Supreme Court as a local remedy was available and effective both in theory and in practice. Although the Respondent State has demonstrated that the Supreme Court can in theory hear the appeal lodged by the Attorney General, it has failed to prove that it could be made use of in practical terms by the victim in the circumstances of lack of quorum. It would therefore be unfair to ask of the victim to await the outcome of the appeal before the Supreme Court while languishing in detention, without any knowledge of when his detention will be Information obtained during meetings with the Principal Judge of the Supreme Court, His Lordship, Justice Yorokamu Bamwine (28/08/2013) and the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs of Uganda, (29/08/2013),following a promotion mission undertaken by the Commission to the Republic of Uganda from 26 – 30 August 2013. See also http://www.judicature.go.ug/data/smenu/7//Supreme_Court.html 8 Sir Dawada Jawara v. Gambia, n 3 above, para 34. 7 11 62nd Ordinary Session, 25 April – 9 July 2018