123. Regarding the alleged violation of Article 3, they submit that the failure of the Supreme Court to decide whether the AIPPA was unconstitutional was a violation of their right to equal protection of the law, adding that this refusal ‘collides not only with the letter and spirit of the Charter but more so with universal law as expressed in several other documents such asArticle 3(b) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as Articles 7 and 26 of the African Charter. 124. According to the Complainants, the relief sought by ANZ was a determination of the constitutionality or otherwise of an Act of Parliament, and the Court was supposed to decide on the facts of the alleged violations and ‘not on the presumption of non-compliance with an Act of Parliament’. That by deciding on a procedural aspect on a principle of equity which was not applicable to matters pertaining to human rights, the Court denied the ANZ the right to equal protection before the law as provided in the Charter. 125. The Complainants argue that the right to equal protection of the law is guaranteed in the Constitution of the Respondent State thus: ‘any one who has reason to believe that his fundamental rights are about to be violated or are likely to be violated can petition the Court for its immediate intervention’. The Complainants submit that ‘to then rely on a doctrine of equity addressing an issue which is believed to stem from the rights protected by the Constitution will not only be depriving the petitioner of an effective remedy but also denial of the right to protection of the law’. 126. Regarding allegation of violation of Article 7, Complainants argue that by refusing to hear the merits of their petition, the Supreme Court proved to be ineffective in acting both as the court of first instance in matters relating to human rights, and in their case, as final tribunal. They argue that for an appeal to a competent body to be considered to be effective, there must be an equally effective decision to remedy the violation of the right of the petitioner. The decision that results from the appeal need not be favourable to the petitioner but it must be considered effective in so far as it addresses the petition. 127. The Complainants argue further that the right to appeal to competent authorities on allegation of human rights violations should not be dealt with on procedural aspects only, but the competent body, in this case the Supreme Court, should make a decision based on the merits of the petition. According to the Complainants, in their case, the Court denied them the right to be heard and therefore denying them justice. 128. The Complainants indicate that the determination of one’s rights by a competent tribunal is a procedural guarantee provided for in the Charter. To determine whether one’s rights have been violated, the national body has to make a determination on the merits of the petition. In the present case, they argue, the Supreme Court refused to determine the merits of the case thereby depriving them of an effective remedy. The Complainants go further to state that the application of the clean hands doctrine in matters relating to constitutional challenges actually results in legal unpredictability and could ultimately lead to disorder, adding that non-judicial decision of a bona fide case deprives litigants as well as future actors of that knowledge of effective remedies, and the fact that an Act has been passed into law does not preclude one from challenging its constitutionality and the notion of complying with an illegality first does not tally with the notion of constitutional supremacy and laws which are not in conformity with the constitution are void ab initio. 129. The Complainants further submit that by declining to decide on the constitutionality of the AIPPA, the Court abdicated on its primary duty as the protector of fundamental human rights and denied the petitioners the right to be heard and the protection of the law. 130. In conclusion, the Complainants submit that the role of the African Commission in the matter is not to interpret the law being challenged or declare that the decision of the domestic court was unconstitutional, but it is rather to establish whether the decision of the court is in violation of the Charter. They implore the Commission to find that by applying the unclean hands doctrine in matters relating to constitutional rights, the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe violated the rights guaranteed in the Charter, in particular, equal protection of the law, fair trial and the right to appeal to competent bodies.