of unclaimed property. The Applicant thereupon filed this
Reference contending that the Respondent’s actions
contravened Articles 5(3), 6(d), 7(1)(a) and (2), and 8(1) of the
Treaty.
Respondent’s case
5. The Respondent contested the Applicant’s allegation and
asserted that the acts complained of could not be attributed
to a Partner State or an institution of the East African
Community (EAC) so as to bring them within this Court’s
jurisdiction. In addition, the Respondent contended that it was
not liable for the acts of the Commission given that the latter
had its own legal personality. It was also the Respondent’s
contention that the filing of the present Reference was an
abuse of court process in so far as the Applicant had filed
another case against the Commission, namely, Case No.
114/13/TC/NYGE, the determination of which was still pending
before a national court in Rwanda. Finally, the Respondent
asserted that the Reference was filed out of time having been
filed on 22nd November 2013, allegedly well beyond the
prescribed time.
6. The Respondent thus raised two preliminary points of law; first,
on the jurisdiction of this Court to entertain a Reference
premised on actions of an entity that was neither a Partner
State nor institution of the EAC, and secondly, on the limitation
of time within which a reference may be brought before this
Court. The Respondent filed a Notice of Preliminary Objection
in that regard as prescribed by Rule 41 of the Court’s Rules.
REFERENCE No. 10 OF 2013
Page 3