36.
The Court notes that the Respondent State raises objections to the
admissibility of the Application. The Court will therefore first consider the
said objections (A) before examining other conditions of admissibility (B) if
needed.
A. Objections to the admissibility of the Application
37. The Respondent State raises two objections to the admissibility of the
Application. The first objection relates to the requirement of exhaustion of
local remedies while the second one relates to whether the Application was
filed within a reasonable time.
i.
Objection based on non-exhaustion of local remedies
38. The Respondent State argues that the Application does not meet the
requirement of exhaustion of local remedies as provided under Article 56(5)
of the Charter and Rule 50(2)(e) of the Rules10 which states that a case
concerning the violation of human rights must be heard at all levels of
domestic courts before being filed before the Court. According to the
Respondent State, this Application was filed prematurely because the
Applicant still had the option to institute a constitutional petition before the
High Court under the Basic Rights and Duties Enforcement Act for the
enforcement of the rights allegedly violated.
39. The Applicant refutes the Respondent State’s objection and argues that he
was not compelled to file a constitutional petition under the Basic Rights and
Duties Enforcement Act because the said remedy is extraordinary as
previously decided by this Court. According to the Applicant, remedies are
exhausted once he goes through the required criminal trial process up to
the Court of Appeal.
***
10
Rule 40 of the Rules, 2 June 2010.
10