***
97. Article 7(1) of the Charter provides that “[e]very individual shall have the
right to have his cause heard”. Article 7 of the Charter, in its entirety,
provides guarantees that are, centrally, meant to ensure the realization of
the right to a fair trial. These include the right to be tried by an impartial
tribunal as well as the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty by a
competent court.
98. In the present Application, the Court observes that the Applicant is
questioning the manner in which the domestic Courts, particularly the High
Court, assessed and admitted evidence against him. In so far as the
Applicant is inviting the Court to consider the manner in which the domestic
Courts dealt with evidential matters, 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 particulars of evidence used in
domestic proceedings.25
99. The Court notes, from the record, that the High Court convicted the
Applicant while relying on testimonies provided by five prosecution
witnesses, coupled with three items of documentary evidence including the
Applicant’s confession statement and two other exhibits. It is noteworthy
that the statements offered by the prosecution witnesses PW1 and PW2
were very similar to the confession statement made by the Applicant. Given
that the Applicant repudiated his confession statement, the High Court
conducted a trial within a trial to determine the admissibility of the
confession statement and the other evidence submitted by the prosecution.
25
Isiaga v. Tanzania (merits), supra, § 65.
23