g)
Do not deal with cases which have been settled by those States
involved in accordance with the principles of the Charter of the
United Nations, or the Constitutive Act of African Union or the
provisions of the Charter.
31. The Court notes that the Respondent State raises two objections. The first
objection is based on non-exhaustion of local remedies while the second
one is on the ground that the Application was not filed within reasonable
time. The Court will first consider these objections (A) before examining
other admissibility requirements (B), if necessary.
A. Objections to the admissibility of the Application
32. The Court notes that the Respondent State raises two objections on
admissibility; the first is based on non-exhaustion of local remedies (i), and
the second one, on the failure to file the Application within reasonable time
(ii).
i.
Objection based on non-exhaustion of local remedies
33. The Respondent State submits that the Applicant raised a number of claims
before this Court which, although raised as grounds of appeal before the
High Court, were not pursued as grounds of appeal before the Court of
Appeal. The said claims are: the Court did not inquire as to why the victim
did not report the crime to the police earlier, the victim’s age was not proven
by any document, the Court of Appeal should have considered that the
sworn statement had to be corroborated by the testimony of the Applicant
who claimed to be its author, and finally, the provisions of the Tanzanian
Evidence Act (Cap 6 RE 2002), in particular, Section 127(7), which allows
for conviction based on the testimony of the victim only if the Court is
satisfied that the statement is true. The Respondent State contends that the
Applicant had a remedy available to bring the said specific allegations
before the Court of Appeal in Criminal Appeal No. 201 of 2014, but chose
not to do so.
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