Accordingly, it is necessary to consider the following questions raised by the defendants in this suit, namely, 1. Whether the Plaintiffs have the competence to institute this action without first exhausting the local remedies available to them. 2. Whether the pendency of the appeal against the conviction of Plaintiffs at the Supreme Court of Liberia is a bar to the present suit. 3. Whether the non- ratification of the Supplementary Protocol of the Court renders it inapplicable to the 1st Defendant. 4. Whether the present action falls within the intendment of Article 9(1) (g) of the 2005 Supplementary Protocol of the Court. 5. Whether the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Defendants are necessary parties to this suit, and 6. Whether from the totality of the facts put forward by the Plaintiffs, the present matter falls within the subject matter of the jurisdiction of this Court. These issues will now be considered seriatim; 1. As a rule of customary and general international law, the rule on the exhaust local remedies flows from the basic rule of international law providing that States have no right to encroach upon the preserve of other States internal affairs. 10