the admissibility requirement under Rule 40(5)15 is not met so that the
Application should be declared inadmissible and be dismissed.
*
39. The Applicant disputes the Respondent State’s objection and claims that he
exhausted all available remedies as his case was heard by the Court of
Appeal, which is the court of last resort of the Respondent State, and that
judgment was delivered on 23 February 2016. The Applicant also notes that
this Court has held on numerous occasions that an Applicant is only
required to exhaust ordinary judicial remedies and that an application for
review or a constitutional petition, within the Respondent State’s legal
system, are extra-ordinary remedies that an Applicant is not required to
exhaust prior to seizing this Court. Therefore, the Applicant prays the Court
to dismiss the Respondent State’s objection and find that this matter has
been filed before this Court after the exhaustion of local remedies.
***
40. The Court notes that pursuant to Article 56(5) of the Charter, whose
provisions are restated in Rule 50(2)(e) of the Rules, any application filed
before it shall fulfil the requirement of exhaustion of local remedies. The rule
of exhaustion of local remedies aims at providing States the opportunity to
deal with human rights violations within their jurisdictions before an
international human rights body is called upon to determine the State’s
responsibility for the same.16
41. The Court recalls its position where it held that, in so far as the criminal
proceedings against an applicant have been determined by the highest
appellate court, the Respondent State will be deemed to have had the
15
Corresponding to Rule 50(2)(e) of the Rules of 25 September 2020.
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v. Republic of Kenya (merits) (26 May 2017) 2
AfCLR 9, §§ 93-94.
16
13