Respondent State and would have risked criminal sanctions had he
attempted to exhaust local remedies.
***
46. Article 56(5) of the Charter whose provisions are restated in Rule 50(2)(e)
of the Rules, provides that any application filed before the Court shall fulfil
the requirement of exhaustion of local remedies, unless the same are
unavailable, ineffective and insufficient or unless the domestic proceedings
thereof are unduly prolonged.8
47. The rule of exhaustion of local remedies aims at providing states the
opportunity to resolve cases of alleged human rights violations within their
jurisdiction before an international human rights body is called upon to
determine the State’s responsibility for same.9 Moreover, for local remedies
to be exhausted, the Applicant must have presented before domestic courts,
at least, in substance, the violations that he alleges before this Court.
48. In the instant case, the Applicant did not submit any evidence of exhaustion
of local remedies but he presented two arguments. First, he argues that
there was a case pending against him that was unduly prolonged and
second, he avers that his PI status was an impediment that he could not
surmount in order to exhaust local remedies.
49. As regards the pending case against him, the Applicant did not substantiate
his claim. The Applicant, however, contends that he was denied the right to
a fair trial in the District Court and he alleges that he was detained arbitrarily
for three months. On the record, the Court observes that the Applicant had
been charged and found guilty of disobeying a deportation order under the
Tanzania Immigration Act, 1995. He was, therefore, brought before the
8 Peter Joseph Chacha v. United Republic of Tanzania (admissibility) (28 March 2014) 1 AfCLR 398, §§
142-144; Almas Mohamed Muwinda and Others v. United Republic of Tanzania, ACtHPR, Application
No. 030/2017, Judgment of 24 March 2022 (merits and reparations), § 43.
9 African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v. Republic of Kenya (merits) (26 May 2017) 2
AfCLR 9, §§ 93-94.
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