131. On the arbitrary deprivation of the right to life as protected under Article 4 of the Charter, the Court recalls its consistent position as exemplified in Ally Rajabu and Others v. United Republic of Tanzania. In the said judgment, the Court held that the mandatory imposition of the death sentence is arbitrary and therefore violates the right to life where i) it is not provided by law; ii) it is not meted by a competent court; and iii) it does not result from proceedings that align with a fair trial, namely because it deprives the judicial officer from the discretion to consider circumstances peculiar to the offence and the offender.53 132. The Court notes that the Applicant in the present Application does not challenge the power of the domestic courts to impose the death sentence. His allegations revolve around the issues of legality of the mandatory death sentence, and whether its imposition was in abidance with fair trial, namely whether the judicial officer had the leeway to consider circumstances peculiar to the case. The Court will consider these two issues in turn. 133. Regarding the condition of legality, the Court notes that the death sentence is provided for in Section 197 of the Penal Code of the Respondent State. The requirement that the penalty should be provided by law is thus met. The Court considers that, while he seems to also challenge the legality of the mandatory imposition of the death penalty in light of international law, submissions made by the Applicant in this respect rather revolve around the seriousness of the offence, and specific circumstances of the offender. As such, the challenge is not on the legality of the mandatory imposition of the death sentence but rather on the requirement of fairness in imposing the said sentence, which will be examined subsequently. 134. With regards to abidance by fair trial, the Applicant’s argument is two-fold, namely whether the mandatory imposition was cognisant of the nature of the offence and if it took into account the circumstances of the offender. 53 Ally Rajabu and Others v. United Republic of Tanzania (merits and reparations) (28 November 2019) 3 AfCLR 539, §§ 99-100. 37