provided under Article 7(1)(a) of the Charter.24 The European Court of
Human Rights25 and Inter-American Court of Human Rights26 have also
found a violation of the right to a reasoned decision on the basis of the
corresponding provisions of their respective conventions, which they have
the duty to interpret.
64. In the present Application, the Court observes that the Applicants are
questioning the manner in which the domestic courts, particularly the High
Court assessed the evidence against them. In so far as the Applicants are
inviting the Court to consider the manner in which domestic courts dealt with
evidential matter, the Court recalls that it has previously held that:
… domestic courts enjoy a wide margin of appreciation in evaluating
the probative value of a particular evidence. As an international human
rights court, the Court cannot take up this role from the domestic courts
and investigate the details and particularities of evidence used in
domestic proceedings.27
65. The above notwithstanding, the Court can, in evaluating the manner in
which domestic proceedings were conducted, intervene to assess whether
domestic proceedings, including the assessment of the evidence, was done
in consonance with international human rights standards.
66. In the present Application, the Court observes that the Applicants do not
point to the specific evidence, adduced before the domestic courts, that was
not considered. In the circumstances, the Court is unable to uphold their
contention that domestic courts ignored exculpatory evidence in convicting
them.
Kenneth Good v. Botswana Communication 313/05 (2010), AHRLR 43 (ACHPR 2010) §§ 162, 175.
Also see Albert Bialufu Ngandu v. Democratic Republic of Congo, Communication 433/12 (19th Extraordinary Session, 16 to 25 February 2016), §§ 58-67.
25 Baucher v. France, ECHR (2007); K.K. v. France, ECHR, 10/10/2013, Application No. 18913/11, § 52.
26 Barbani Duarte and Others v. Uruguay, 13/10/2011, §§ 183-185.
27 Kijiji Isiaga v. United Republic of Tanzania (merits) (21 March 2018) 2 AfCLR 218, § 65.
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