discharge sheet before the judge, and on the other hand, that he handed it to the police officer in charge of the investigation; and that the judicial records rather show that it was his lawyer who was in possession of the discharge certificate. Regarding the issue of alibi in general, the representative of the Respondent State stressed that the law requires that the alibi be raised by prior notice and that in any case, the trial magistrate had considered the defence of alibi and dismissed the same. 189. At the same hearing, the Respondent State’s representative explained that under Tanzanian law, an accused must first notify the Court and the Prosecution of the intention to invoke an alibi, and thus allow the Prosecution enough time to conduct investigations into allegations of alibi advanced by the accused. raised after the prosecution case He stated further that if the defence is is closed, the Court may in its discretion admit the evidence but accord no weight whatsoever to ensure that justice is done; that raising the defence of alibi after closing its case is rather prejudicial and does not reflect justice. He added that with regard to the hospital discharge sheet, investigation was not conducted, in view of the fact that this question was raised after the presentation of the prosecution’s pleadings; and that on cross-examination, the Applicant said he had sent his parents to bring the discharge sheet, thus continuing to contradict himself. 190. The Court notes that the records of the domestic judicial proceedings show that the Applicant had indeed invoked an alibi, but that the trial magistrate had found that the alibi defence had not been submitted to the court in accordance with the law, and that it was just an after-thought. 191. The Court holds that at the time of the police investigation and in the course of the trial, the Applicant clearly raised the issue of his alibi; and this should have been seriously considered by the police and the judicial authorities of the Respondent State. Where an alibi is established with certainty, it can be decisive on the determination of the guilt of the accused. This issue was all the more crucial especially s as, in the instant case, the pf oe Ke gy a