and
any
other
relevant
Human
Rights
instrument
ratified
by
the
States
concerned.
2. In the event of a dispute as to whether the Court has jurisdiction, the Court
shall decide.
14.In
accordance
with
Rule
39(1)
of the
Rules
“[t]he Court shall conduct
preliminary examination of its jurisdiction ...”
15.On
the
basis
preliminarily
of the
conduct
above-cited
an
provisions,
assessment
therefore,
of its jurisdiction
the
and
Court
must,
dispose
of
objections, if any, to its jurisdiction.
A. Objection to material jurisdiction
16. Citing the Court’s decision in the matter of Ernest Francis Mtingwi v Republic
of Malawi, the Respondent State claims that by praying the Court to review
the points of fact and law already examined
by the domestic courts, the
Applicant is asking the Court to sit as an appellate court. According to the
Respondent State, this is not within its jurisdiction as set out in Article 3(1)
of the Protocol and Rule 26 of the Rules.
17. The Applicant states that “It is common
knowledge that this Court is not an
Appellate Court in terms of the decisions rendered by the national Courts.
However, this position does not preclude the jurisdiction of this ... Court to
examine whether the procedures before the national courts are consistent
with the international standards required
by the applicable human
rights
instruments.” Citing the Court's judgment of 3 June 2016, in the matter of
Mohamed
Abubakari
v
United
Republic
of
Tanzania,
the
Applicant
concludes that the “Court has jurisdiction over the matter under Article 3 and
5 of the Protocol...”
RK