9.
With regard to the allegation that the thirty (30) years sentence was
inappropriate, the Court “observes that the alleged violations of the rights of the
Applicants occurred in the course of domestic proceedings which led to the
finding of guilt and to the sentence pronounced against him. The allegations
raised by the Applicant therefore form part of the bundle of rights and
guarantees that were related to or were the basis of their appeals*...”
10.In many of its judgments, the Court has relied on this “bundle of rights” theory
to dispose of certain claims brought before it in matters of exhaustion of local
remedies®.
11.In my opinion, applying this theory in matters of local remedies amounts to
distorting its very basis and tenets. The Applicants’ rights are diverse and
different in nature and the allegations thereto related, if in the Charter, can be
incorporated into a set of rights such as the right to information, freedom of
expression, fair trial ...
12.At domestic level, all laws whatever the nature, spell out the scope of and the
rules governing each right, and it lies with the national judge to consider certain
rights as part of a bundle of rights and to adjudicate them as such.
13.In defining the aforesaid bundle of rights in relation to the national judge, the
Court ignored the powers and prerogatives of judges in general and, more
restrictively, in matters of appeal, especially as the Applicants have at no time
responded to the Respondent State’s allegation by proving that the appellate
judges have the power to do so - since the national texts confer the said powers
and prerogatives on them — but that they could consider requests brought, for
the first time, before the African Court as part of a bundle of rights.
e
The prerogatives
courts
and
jurisdiction
of appellate judges
before
national
14. It is an established fact that "appeal proceedings" are of two types:
- Appeal that has devolutive effect, and
4 Paragraph 44 of the Judgment
5 Application No. 005/2013. Alex Thomas v. United Republic of Tanzania, Judgment of 20/11/2015; Application No.
006/2015. Nguza Viking and Johnson Nguza v. United Republic of Tanzania, Judgment of 23/3/2018; Application
No. 003/2015. Kennedy Owino Onyachi v. United Republic of Tanzania, Judgment of 28/9/2017