highest court of competent jurisdiction (i.e. the Supreme Court of Burundi) in a Partner State. To fortify his argument, he relied on the decision of this Court in EACJ REF. No. 8 of 2011: Prof. Nyamoya Francois Vs The Attorney General of the Republic of Burundi & The Secretary General of the East African Community (para 43 of the Judgment). 24. In response to the Respondent’s arguments on this issue, Counsel for the Applicant submitted that this Court derives its mandate from Articles 23(1), 27(1) and 30(1) of the Treaty. 25. In Article 23(1), it is stated that “The Court shall be a judicial body which shall ensure the adherence to law in the interpretation and application of and compliance with the Treaty.’’ 26. According to Article 27(1) of the Treaty, “1. The Court shall initially have application of jurisdiction this over Treaty: the Provided interpretation that the and Court’s jurisdiction to interpret under this paragraph shall not include the application of any such interpretation to jurisdiction conferred by the Treaty on organs of Partner States.” 27. As for Article 30(1) of the Treaty, it provides that “Subject to the provisions of Article 27 of this Treaty, any person who is resident in a Partner State may refer for determination by the Court, the legality of any act, regulation, directive, decision or action of a Partner State or an institution of the Community on the grounds that such act, regulation, REFERENCE No. 2 OF 2013 Page 8