6
"Article 3 (1) of the Protocol ( ... ) docs not specify which instrument
should be considered as a human rights instrument" and argues further
"that any Treaty containing provisions on the protection of human rights
should be considered as relevant and within the jurisdiction of the Court"
(Paragraph 13). At the Public Hearing of 15 J unc 2012, the second
Applicant indicated that "the East African Treaty ( ... ) docs have in
Article 6 a provision that protects the human rights" and "that provision
not the entire treaty but that particular provision ( ... ) is part of applicable
law before the Court" (Public Hearing of 15 June 2012, Oral Hearing
Verbatim Record, p. 12, lines 20-23).
13. Therefore, contrary to what it indicated in Paragraph 87 ofthe Judgment,
the Court had also to determine whether the Treaty establishing the East
African Community was applicable in the light of Articles 3 (1) and 7 of
the Protocol, as well as Rule 26 (I) (a) of the Rules of Court.
14. These three proviSions make mention of "any other relevant human
rights instrument ratified by the States concerned" and direct reference to
three requirements:
I) The instrument in question must be an
international treaty, hence the requirement that it be ratified by the State
concerned, 2) this international treaty must "relate to human rights'' and
3) it must have been ratified by the State concerned. These three
requirements are cumulative and, if met, the Court would again have had
to ensure that the said treaty is "relevant" to the treatment of the matter.
15. On the issue of whether a particular treaty can be considered as "a human
rights instrument", the Court could, for instance, have suggested that
some distinction be made between treaties which deal mainly with the
protection of human rights and those which address other issues but