held in its case-law,27 that, a matter will be considered to be settled if there
is convergence of the following cumulative conditions: i) the identity of the
parties; ii) identity of the issues arising; and iii) the existence of a decision
on the substance or merits.28
99. With respect to the identity of the parties, the Court notes that the
Respondent State is the same in both cases, it is therefore only necessary
to establish the identity of the Applicants.
100. The Court observes that the Parties do not have to be the same as the
identity extends to privies of the Parties. In this regard, the Court observes
that, the Applicants in the RPD Committee cases are anonymous individuals
as their identities have not been disclosed, while the Parties in the present
case are, the CHR, IHRDA, and LHRC which are NGOs pursuing public
interest litigation with regards to the rights of PWA. Given the fact that the
Applicants in the RPD Committee cases are individual PWA, and that the
Applicants herein seek to protect the rights of PWA at large, therefore the
Court finds that the criterion on “identity of the parties” has been met.
101. With regard to the “identity of the claims”, the Court must decide whether
the legal and factual basis of the claims are the same by examining the
alleged violations and the prayers of the Applicants.29
102. The Court notes in this regard that, in Mr X v. Tanzania before the RPD
Committee,30 the applicant alleged violation of his rights to equality and nondiscrimination, freedom from torture and physical integrity under the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (hereinafter referred
to as “CRPD”).
Jean-Claude Roger Gombert v. Republic of Côte d’Ivoire (jurisdiction and admissibility) (22 March
2018) 2 AfCLR 270, § 45; Dexter Eddie Johnson v. Republic of Ghana (jurisdiction and admissibility)
(28 March 2019) 3 AfCLR 99, § 48.
28 Legal and Human Rights Centre and another v. United Republic of Tanzania, ACtHPR, Application
No. 039/2020, Judgment of 13 June 2023, § 67.
29 Legal and Human Rights Centre and Another v. Tanzania (merits), supra, § 71.
30 UNCRPD, Mr X v. United Republic of Tanzania, CRPD/C/18/D/22/2014, adoption of views on 18
August 2017.
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