35. The Respondent State raises objections to the admissibility of the
Application, based on non-exhaustion of local remedies and failure to file
the application within a reasonable time. The Court will therefore consider
the said objections (A) before examining other admissibility requirements
(B), if necessary.
A. Objection based on failure to exhaust local remedies
36. The Respondent State contends that the Applicant has not met the
admissibility requirements provided under Rule 50(2)(e) of the Rules, as he
did not exhaust all local remedies prior to filling this Application before this
Court.
37. The Respondent State avers in this respect that the trial court, the District
Court of Karagwe, rendered its decision on the 19 August 2011. Aggrieved
by this decision, the Applicant appealed at both the High Court in Criminal
Appeal No.31 of 2015 and at the Court of Appeal in Criminal Appeal Case
No. 483 of 2015, on which the two Courts rendered their decisions on 12
October 2015 and 20 February 2016, respectively. The Respondent State
further avers that the High Court not only upheld the decision of the District
Court, but also substituted the 20-year sentence with the mandatory
sentence of 30 years imprisonment. The Court of Appeal subsequently
upheld the decision of the High Court, thereby dismissing the Applicant’s
appeal.
38. The Respondent State contends that the alleged violations of Article 7(1)(c)
of the Charter and Article 13 of its Constitution are completely new claims
which were never raised at the municipal level. Furthermore, if the Applicant
felt that his right to legal representation was being curtailed by the District
Court, he should have raised his concern before the same Court, which
could have referred the matter to the High Court for determination under
Section 9 of the Basic Rights and Duties Enforcement Act.
11
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