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Accord appellate jurisdiction to EA Court of Justice
2005-11-02 07:51:08
By Editor
The late US civil rights activist, Martin Luther King once said that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
That conception is better understood if one acknowledges that justice is the great interest of man on earth, as it is the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together. In other words, the more nations endeavour to pursue justice jointly, the better for mankind.
Last week, while celebrating its tenth anniversary since its inception, the East Africa Law Society (EALS) raised the issue of the need to rethink the limited jurisdiction currently accorded to the East Africa Court of Justice (EACJ).
EACJ is the court established under the Treaty of East African Cooperation and it mainly deals with matters pertaining to the East African Community and its charter.
EALS President, Bahame Tom Nyanduga said in Dar es Salaam that his society raised the issue as a proposal to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni who promised that he would bring the matter to the attention of the other heads of state, when they met him last June.
What the EALS is suggesting to the East African partner states is their consideration in giving appellate jurisdiction to the East Africa Court of Justice. The society believes that limited jurisdiction to EACJ is a contributing factor to its inaction.
Among the noblest quality of the former East African Community which made the defunct regional economic bloc very unique in the world, was its close cooperation in running the railways, airways, posts and communication, common customs tariffs and an appellate court - the East African Court of Appeal (EACA).
As its title suggested, EACA’s jurisdiction was essentially appellate. It deliberated on appeals, both civil and criminal that emanated from the higher courts of the three partner states.
As it can be recalled, the EACA collapsed when the former EAC broke up in 1977.
However it started to experience knocks and bumps several years earlier when Tanzania enacted a law that in effect prevented all treason appeals to go beyond the country’s High Court. Kenya and Uganda followed suit.
However, all the three East African partner states later established their own appellate courts.
We support the proposal in giving the EACJ appellate jurisdiction in the belief that there should be no limit in the pursuit of justice.
One may argue that if at the moment, only appeals from those with financial ability are able to reach the Court of Appeal, what about the much higher East Africa Court of Appeal? Will poor justice seekers ever see its interiors?
The answer to this one should be that put the court in place first, and other issues will sort themselves out. At least there should be a place to go to, and the problems of cost will be looked into, no doubt about it.
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