Communication 431/12 – Thomas Kwoyelo v. Uganda
32. Citing the jurisprudence of the Commission, the Respondent State asserts that local
remedies have not been exhausted in conformity with the well settled principle of
finality of court process and legal certainty which begets that the Supreme Court
of Uganda hears the Complainant’s case as a last and final court within the
jurisdiction of Uganda.
33. The Respondent State submits that domestic remedies still exist at the domestic
level and argue that the Constitutional Court of Uganda is not the highest court in
Uganda but only a Court of first instance for matters calling for Constitutional
interpretation.
34. It outlines various articles of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda which recognise the
Supreme Court as the final Court of appeal, particularly Article 132(3) which
provides that ‘any party aggrieved by a decision of the Court of Appeal sitting as
a Constitutional Court is entitled to appeal to the Supreme Court against the
decision’.
35. The Respondent State avers that the judgment in Constitutional Reference No. 36
of 2011 was delivered on 22 September 2011 and the Attorney General being
dissatisfied with the said judgment appealed against the whole judgment on 23
September 2011.
36. They assert that the appeal is currently pending hearing and final determination
and further assert that following the lodgement of the appeal, the Respondent State
successfully applied to stay execution on the grounds that if execution was allowed
to proceed it would in effect render the appeal nugatory.
37. The Respondent State submits that the Supreme Court of Uganda is duly
constituted and has quorum to hear and entertain the appeal. They further submit
that the Court be allowed an opportunity to hear and pronounce itself on the
8
62nd Ordinary Session, 25 April – 9 July 2018