Therefore, the Respondent State argues that the national courts followed due process. 55. According to the Respondent State, two (2) years after the conviction and sentence of the Applicant in absentia, the Applicant was arrested and brought before the trial judge in order for him to explain himself. The Respondent State contends that the Applicant did not adduce convincing reasons regarding his absence to allow the trial judge to reopen the case in accordance with Section 226(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act.9 56. Consequently, the Respondent State avers that the Applicant’s right to a fair trial was respected and thus his claims should be dismissed for lack of merit. *** 57. Article 7(1)(c) of the Charter provides: “[e]very individual shall have the right to have his cause heard. This comprises: […] c) The right to defence...” 58. The Court reiterates that the right to have one’s cause heard requires that an applicant be entitled to take part in all proceedings, and to adduce his or her arguments and evidence in accordance with the adversarial principle. However, the individual has the right to choose whether or not to take part in the proceedings, provided this waiver is unequivocally established.10 59. In the instant case, the record before this Court shows that the Applicant absconded bail before the end of the prosecution’s case and his trial was adjourned six (6) times as the Respondent State made efforts to trace him. Having failed in its search for the Applicant, the prosecutor moved the court to continue with the trial in the Applicant’s absence according to Section 226(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act (2002).11 This motion was granted and Section 226(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act “if the court convicts the accused person in his absence, it may set aside the conviction upon being satisfied that his absence was from causes over which he had no control and that he had a probable defence on the merit.” 10 Anaclet Paulo v. United Republic of Tanzania (merits) (21 September 2018) 2 AfCLR 446, § 81. 11 Supra, note 8. 9 14