vi. Order the Respondent State to reimburse the Democratic Republic of Congo all costs incurred in bringing and supporting the present case before the Court. 24. For its part, the Respondent State prays the Court to declare that it lacks jurisdiction to hear the case or, in the alternative, declare the Application inadmissible. V. JURISDICTION 25. Article 3 of the Protocol provides that: 1. The jurisdiction of the Court shall extend to all cases and disputes submitted to it concerning the interpretation and application of the Charter, this Protocol and any other relevant human rights instruments ratified by the States concerned. 2. In the event of a dispute as to whether the Court has jurisdiction, the Court shall decide. 26. Furthermore, pursuant to Rule 49(1) of the Rules, “the Court shall conduct preliminary examination of its jurisdiction … in accordance with the Charter, the Protocol and these Rules”. 27. Based on the above-cited provisions, the Court must, in every application, preliminarily, examine its jurisdiction and rule on objections thereto, if any. 28. The Court observes that the Respondent raises objections to its jurisdiction on which the Court will rule (A) before examining the other aspects of its jurisdiction, if necessary (B). A. Objections to the jurisdiction of the Court 29. The Respondent raises objections to the material and territorial jurisdiction of the Court, which the Court will examine successively. 8