81. The Respondent State disputes the Applicants’ allegation and submits that “if the Applicant is aggrieved with the Court of Appeal’s decision he has the remedy of filing an Application to review its decision …” According to the Respondent State, the “Applicant cannot fault the judicial system if he has not exhausted all available legal remedies.” It thus submits that the allegation lacks merit and should be dismissed. *** 82. The Court recalls that under Article 7(1)(a) of the Charter every individual has a right to be heard and this includes the right to appeal to competent national organs against acts violating his/her rights. 83. As the Court has previously held, the right to appeal requires that individuals be provided with an opportunity to access competent organs, to appeal against decision or acts violating their rights.13 The duty on States, therefore, is to establish mechanisms for such appeal and take necessary action that facilitate the exercise of this right by individuals, including providing them with the judgment or decisions that they wish to appeal against within a reasonable time. 84. The Respondent State’s duty, therefore, is to ensure that there is, at least, a two-tier jurisdiction in respect of all criminal matters i.e. an avenue for appealing all first instance decisions.14 As noted by the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the right to appeal in criminal matters does not prescribe a particular number of the levels at which an appeal must occur so far as there is an opportunity for appealing a first decision.15 As the Court has previously held, the essence of the right is that findings of a trial court must be amenable to review by another court.16 13 Benedicto Daniel Mallya v. United Republic of Tanzania (26 September 2019) 3 AfCLR 482, § 43. Cf. Sebastien Germain Ajavon v. Republic of Benin (29 March 2019) 3 AfCLR 171, § 212. 15 Human Rights Committee General Comment No. 32 § 45. 16 Yahaya Zumo Makame and 3 others v. United Republic of Tanzania, AfCHPR, Application No. 023/2026, Judgment of 25 June 2021 (merits and reparations) § 74. 14 22