PART A: Background to the African Regional Human Rights System 2005, the EAC Council of Ministers discussed the issue of extending jurisdiction of the Court pursuant to Article 27(2) of the Treaty, which led to the adoption of the draft Protocol to Operationalise Extended Jurisdiction of the East African Court of Justice in 2007. This Protocol has not yet entered into force.123 b) Submitting Complaints to the Court The Court is mandated to receive complaints of breaches of the treaty from member States against each other and institutions of the EAC. The EAC Secretary General can also submit such complaints against member States. Legal and natural persons who are residents of a member State can also access the Court to submit complaints alleging breaches of the Treaty by member States or institutions of the EAC.124 Decisions of the Court are binding on member States, though they can be appealed to the Appeals Chamber of the Court. Under Article 38(3) of the Treaty, member States must take immediate measures to implement judgements of the Court; however there is no procedure in place to sanction States, which fail to do so. The EACJ admissibility requirements do not include exhaustion of domestic remedies; however complaints must be submitted ‘within two months of the enactment, publication, directive, decision or action complained of, or in the absence thereof, of the day in which it came to the knowledge of the complainant’.125 As discussed in further detail in Part C, Section 4, the Court has taken a somewhat strict approach to the issue of time limits when dealing with human rights related communications.126 Article 40 of the Treaty provides that ‘a Partner State, the Secretary General or a resident of a Partner State who is not a party to a case before the Court may, with leave of the Court, intervene in that case, but the submissions of the intervening party shall be limited to evidence supporting or opposing the arguments of a party to the case’.127 3. Southern African Development Community Tribunal The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is the sub-regional body mandated to support regional integration and improvement of living conditions in 123 124 125 126 127 the Treaty merely because Human Rights violations are mentioned in the Reference. In the result, we hold that this Court has jurisdiction to entertain the Reference’]. See Press Release, “25th Extraordinary Meeting of Council of Ministers Concludes”, 30 June 2012, Latest from the EAC, available at: http://www.eac.int/news/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=729:25th-extraordinary-meeting-of-council-of-ministers-concludes&catid=48:eac-latest&Itemid=69. EAC Treaty, Article 30. EAC Treaty, Article 30(2). See: EACJ, Independent Medico Legal Unit v. Attorney General of Kenya and 4 others, Appeal No.1 OF 2011. EAC Treaty, Article 40. 39