138. The Court holds that Article 7 of the Charter read together with Article 14 of the Covenant, guarantees for any one charged with a criminal offence, the right to be automatically assigned a Counsel free of charge, where he does not have the means to pay him, whenever the interests of justice so require. 139. Moreover, the Court is of the opinion that an indigent person under prosecution for a criminal offence is particularly entitled to free legal assistance where the offence is serious, and the penalty provided by law is severe. As the Court noted in the Matter of Alex Thomas v. United Republic of Tanzania, the Respondent State “was enjoined to provide the Applicant with legal aid, given the serious nature of the charges against him and the potential sentence he faced if convicted”."® 140. In the instant case, the question is whether the fact that the Respondent State, pursuant to its laws and relevant court decisions, did not automatically and compulsorily grant legal assistance to a person liable to thirty years imprisonment sentence, is compliant with Article 7 of the Charter and Article 14 of the Covenant and other relevant international standards. 141. The Court notes in this regard that Article 7 of the Charter and 14(3)(d) of the Covenant does not make any distinction between the different categories of criminal offence in terms of the applicable penalty, or as to whether the issue is that of capital punishment or imprisonment. 142. The Court notes that a sentence of 30 years in prison is severe though not as severe as the death sentence or a sentence of life imprisonment. 18 Judgment of 20 November 2015, para 115. and international practice cited. See also paragraphs 116 to 124, as well as the jurisprudence Q 39 Z Me |