® SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY ARTICLE 15 SCOPE OF JURISDICTION 1. The Tribunal shall have jurisdiction over disputes between States, and between natural or legal persons and States. 2. No natural or legal person shall bring an action against a State unless he or she has exhausted all available remedies or is unable to proceed under the domestic jurisdiction. 3. Where a dispute is referred to the Tribunal by any party the consent of other parties to the dispute shall not be required. ARTICLE 16 PRELIMINARY RULINGS 1. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article, the Tribunal shall have jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings in proceedings of any kind and between any parties before the courts or tribunals of States. 2. The Tribunal shall not have original jurisdiction but may rule on a question of interpretation, application or validity of the provisions in issue if the question is referred to it by a court or tribunal of a State for a preliminary ruling in accordance with this Protocol. ARTICLE 17 DISPUTES BETWEEN STATES AND COMMUNITY Subject to the provisions of Article 14 of this Protocol, the Tribunal shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all disputes between the States and the Community. Such disputes may be referred to the Tribunal either by the State concerned or by the competent institution or organ of the Community. ARTICLE 18 DISPUTES BETWEEN NATURAL OR LEGAL PERSONS AND COMMUNITY Subject to the provisions of Article 14 of this Protocol the Tribunal shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all disputes between natural or legal persons and the Community. Such disputes may be referred to the Tribunal either by the natural or legal person concerned or by the competent institution or organ of the Community. -6 Protocol on Tribunal