100. The Respondent State also contends that the application for review is an
extraordinary remedy, which posed no harm to the Applicant, as his matter
was conclusively determined by the Court of Appeal. It also contends that
there was no delay in hearing the application for review.
***
101. Article 7(1) (c) of the Charter provides that:
1.
Every individual shall have the right to have his cause heard. This
comprises: …
(c) The right to defence, including the right to be defended by
counsel of his choice.
102. The Court has held that Article 7(1)(c) of the Charter as read together with
Article 14(3)(d) of the ICCPR, guarantees for anyone charged with a serious
criminal offence the right to be automatically assigned a counsel free of
charge, where he does not have the means to hire a lawyer, whenever the
interests of justice so require.39
103. In the matter of African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v.
Libya, the Court held that “every accused person has a right to be effectively
defended by a lawyer, which is at the heart of the notion of a fair trial.40 The
Court has previously considered the issue of effective representation in
Evodius Rutechura v. United Republic of Tanzania41 where it held that the
right to free legal assistance comprises the right to be defended by counsel.
However, the Court emphasizes that the right to be defended by counsel of
one’s choice is not absolute when counsel is provided through a free legal
assistance scheme.42 In such a case, the important consideration is whether
the accused is provided with effective legal representation rather than
39
Alex Thomas v. United Republic of Tanzania (merits) (20 November 2015) 1 AfCLR 465, § 124.
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v. Libya (merits) (2016) 1 AfCLR 153, § 95.
41 Evodius Rutechura v. United Republic of Tanzania, ACtHPR, Application No. 004/2016, Judgment of
26 February 2021 (merits and reparations), § 73.
42 ECHR, Croissant v. Germany (1993) App No.13611/89, § 29, Kamasinski v. Austria (1989) App No.
9783/82, § 65.
40
28