Jawara v. Republic of the Gambia). He further submits that the said remedies
must clearly not be unduly prolonged.
31. The Applicant submits that during the proceedings in respect of which he was
held in detention, the public prosecutor, assumed various legally incompatible
roles in order to deprive him of freedom. He explains that the latter acted
variously as trade unionist, a party to the trial and a judicial authority. He
contends that his rights were not violated because he was prosecuted, but
rather because the public prosecutor, who is a party to the proceedings and
who is in fact the complainant in his capacity as president of the trade union,
can issue a detention order without the intervention of another judicial authority.
32. In this regard, the Applicant submits that Article 83(1) of the CCP4 empowers
the public prosecutor to issue a detention order, whereas this power should be
the preserve of a judge of the court. He avers that this prerogative violates the
principle of the separation of the prosecuting and adjudicating authorities. He
further contends that his rights were also violated by the fact that his application
for bail was prevented from being examined within a reasonable time.
33. He states that while he has not yet exhausted local remedies on the merits of
the case, the same cannot be said of the decision by the Public Prosecutor to
place him under a detention order, or the refusal to examine his application for
bail, against which there is no local remedy.
34. The Applicant further submits that it is “incongruous” to note that in the event of
a dispute between a magistrates’ union and a litigant, the case is decided by a
magistrate who is himself a member of the magistrates’ union. The Applicant
contends that it is difficult, if not impossible, to be judged by a judge who is
independent of the two judicial unions, of which 99.99% of magistrates are
members. He avers that it took until 15 December 2020 for the prosecutor to
4
Article 83 paragraph 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure states: "In the event of a flagrant offence,
when the act is punishable by imprisonment, and if the investigating judge is not seized, the public
prosecutor may place the accused under a detention order, after interrogating him or her about his or
her identity and the facts of the matter.
9