58. Article 56(5) of the Charter requires that the Communication should be submitted after the exhaustion of local remedies, if they exist, unless it is obvious to the Commission that the procedure is unduly prolonged. 59. The Commission in its jurisprudence recalls that the objective of the condition of exhaustion of local remedies is to allow the State to remedy, in conformity with its local legislation, the alleged human rights violation before it is brought before an international body. This prevents the Commission from acting as a court of first instance rather than a body of last resort. 3 60. The justification for the exhaustion of local remedies therefore is for the State to have the possibility of resolving the issue before it is brought before an international body. In the African system the Commission has confirmed its position in its decisions in Free Legal Assistance Group and Others vs. Zaire4 and Rencontre africaine pour la défense des droits de l’homme vs. Zambia5. The Commission stated that the condition concerning local remedies is based on the principle according to which a Government needs to be informed about the human rights violations to give it the opportunity to resolve it before being called before an international body. 61. The requirement of exhaustion of local remedies also emanates from the principle of complementarity on the basis of which international or regional mechanisms cannot and should not replace the national courts. It is only where the national courts are unable to deliver justice that the international or regional bodies have competence Decisions of the Commission on Communications 147/95 and 149/96, Sir Dawda K. Jawara vs. Gambia, para 31; 73/92 Mohamed Lamine Diakité vs. Gabon, para 16; 74/92 National Human Rights and Liberties Commission vs. Chad, para 27; 48/90 Amnesty International vs. Sudan, 50/91 Loosli Bachelard Committee vs. Sudan, 52/91 Lawyers Committee for Human Rights vs. Sudan, 89/93 Association of Members of the Episcopal Conference of East Africa vs. Sudan, para 32. 4 Communication 25/89, 47/90, 56/91, 100/93 – Free Legal Assistance Group and Others vs. Zaire (1993) parag. 36 5 Communication 71/92 – Rencontre africaine pour la défense des droits de l’homme vs. Zambia, parag. 10. 3 13