litigation, which ought to have been revealed in the initiating Application, or at
best, by Counsel to Federal Republic of Nigeria.
12.To this end, the Court would like the Counsels and the parties, to remember that
they have an obligation to contribute to the manifestation of the truth, and must
assist the Court in the establishment of the facts, and the discovery of the other
elements, for the correct examination of each one of them; also, Counsels to the
parties have the obligation to cooperate with it, in all good faith and loyalty, in
the administration of justice, and in the interest of the parties to the case. They
must particularly inform the Court on all proceedings initiated, or which are
effectively settled, at the national courts, in cases that are brought before it.
13.The Court recalls that in a similar case, for human rights violations, where the res
judicata was relied upon, as the basis for objection to admissibility, it held that
such an argument can only hold, if “it is established that the case brought before
it (…) is essentially the same as another case which has already been satisfactorily
adjudicated upon, by a competent national court” [see § 13 of the Judgment in
the Aliyu Tasheku v. Federal Republic of Nigeria, dated 12 June 2012].
14.The new evidence produced in the instant case, is likely to have a decisive
influence on the examination of this case, on its merit, if it is established that the
case brought before it by Mrs. Sa’adatu Umar is essentially the same as the one
adjudicated upon by the Federal High Court, Abuja.
15.Indeed, in such an eventuality, the Court could, even at this stage of proceedings,
decide to declare the instant case inadmissible [see § 19 and 20 of the Judgment
in the Aliyu Tasheku v. Federal Republic of Nigeria, dated 12 June 2012.]
Consequently, the Court declares the Order made by the Federal High Court,
Abuja as new evidence.
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