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African Network For Animal Welfare v A.G. of Tanzania (Reference 9 of 2010)

East African Court of Justice · [2014] EACJ 50 · 2014 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Reference to the East African Court of Justice challenging proposed road construction through Serengeti National Park as violating the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community
Decision
Permanent injunction granted restraining Tanzania from constructing bitumen standard road across Serengeti National Park; declaration issued that proposed action violates EAC Treaty

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court held that Tanzania's initial proposal to construct a bitumen standard road across Serengeti National Park violated Articles 5(3)(c), 8(1)(c), 111(2) and 114(1) of the EAC Treaty, which require Partner States to promote sustainable utilization of natural resources and protect the environment. The Court granted a permanent injunction restraining Tanzania from constructing or maintaining a bitumen standard road across the Park, finding that such construction would cause irreversible damage to the Serengeti ecosystem. The Court dismissed preliminary objections that the Treaty provisions were unratified or that the Applicant lacked standing, holding that Tanzania had ratified the entire Treaty and that non-conclusion of a protocol does not oust Treaty obligations.

Outcome

Permanent injunction granted restraining Tanzania from constructing bitumen standard road across Serengeti National Park; declaration issued that proposed action violates EAC Treaty

Facts

The Applicant, a Pan-African animal welfare NGO, challenged Tanzania's proposal to upgrade the Natta-Mugumu-Tabora B-Kleins Gate-Loliondo Road, 53 km of which would traverse Serengeti National Park. The Government initially proposed upgrading the entire 179 km road to bitumen standard to serve 2.3 million people in Serengeti and Ngorongoro districts. An existing earth road of 53 km within the Park was used mainly by tourists and park administrators with special authorization. Environmental impact assessments identified numerous negative impacts including disruption of animal migration, habitat fragmentation, increased poaching, wildlife mortality from road kill, and deterioration of air and water quality. UNESCO expressed utmost concern that the proposed alignment could result in irreversible damage to the Serengeti's outstanding universal value as a World Heritage site. Following these concerns, Tanzania suspended the project and retreated to conduct further studies, but had not formally abandoned the bitumen standard proposal.

Issues

  1. Whether the Respondent intends to upgrade, tarmac, pave, realign, construct, create and/or commission a trunk road across the Serengeti National Park.
  2. Whether the disputed road exists and is in use.
  3. Whether the proposed action infringes the provisions of the EAC Treaty and international instruments.
  4. Whether the Applicant is entitled to the prayers sought.
  5. Whether the Reference is bad and untenable in law as it seeks to enforce a part of the Treaty which is yet to be ratified by all Partner States.
  6. Whether the Applicant has locus standi to institute the Reference for alleged violations of International Conventions and Declarations on Environment and Natural Resources.
  7. Whether the Reference is placed before the wrong forum.

Orders

  • A declaration is issued that the initial proposal or proposed action by the Respondent to construct a road of bitumen standard across the Serengeti National Park is unlawful and infringes Articles 5(3)(c), 8(1)(c), 111(2) and 114(1) of the Treaty.
  • A permanent injunction is issued restraining the Respondent from operationalising its initial proposal or proposed action of constructing or maintaining a road of bitumen standard across the Serengeti National Park subject to its right to undertake such other programmes or initiate policies in the future which would not have a negative impact on the environment and ecosystem in the Serengeti National Park.
  • Each party shall bear its own costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Environmental Law — Treaty Obligations — Sustainable Utilization of Natural Resources — Protection of Environment
Partner States to the East African Community Treaty are obligated under Articles 5(3)(c), 8(1)(c), 111(2) and 114(1) to promote sustainable utilization of natural resources, preserve and protect the quality of the environment, and take measures that would effectively protect the natural environment, and these obligations are binding regardless of whether a protocol to operationalise environmental cooperation has been ratified.
Statutory Interpretation — Treaty Interpretation — Ratification — Effect of Non-Ratification of Protocol
Non-conclusion or non-ratification of a protocol to operationalise a specific area of cooperation under a treaty does not oust the obligations placed on a State Party by clear and unambiguous provisions in the body of the treaty itself; a protocol spells out objectives, scope and institutional mechanisms but failure to enact it does not render treaty provisions inoperable.
Administrative Law — Locus Standi — Public Interest Litigation — Environmental Protection
An applicant has locus standi under Article 30(1) of the EAC Treaty to bring proceedings alleging that a Partner State's action infringes Treaty provisions on environmental protection, even where the applicant also references violations of international conventions and declarations, provided the gravamen of the case is the alleged Treaty infringement and not enforcement of those other instruments per se.
Environmental Law — Irreversible Environmental Damage — Preventative Orders — Precautionary Principle
Where evidence establishes that a proposed development project has the potential to cause irreversible damage to a protected ecosystem of outstanding universal value, a court may issue preventative orders restraining implementation of the project, as environmental damage once inflicted is rarely ever repaired, while preserving the State's right to pursue alternative programmes that would not negatively impact the environment.
Statutory Interpretation — Treaty Interpretation — Signature and Ratification — Binding Effect
Signature and ratification are two distinct steps in the treaty-making process; ratification is the final consent by a State to be bound by the provisions of a treaty, and where a State has signed and ratified a treaty without raising reservations, it is bound by each provision therein.

Legislation cited (17)

  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 1
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 3
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 5(3)(c)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 8(1)(c)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 27
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 30
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 30(1)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 111(2)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 114(1)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 126
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 130
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 151
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 152
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 153(1)
  • Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties Article 11
  • East African Court of Justice Rules of Procedure Rule 41
  • East African Court of Justice Rules of Procedure Rule 68(5)

Cases cited (4)

  • Mukisa Biscuit Co Ltd v West End Distributors Ltd [1969] EALR 696
  • Pimentel v Executive Secretary G.R. No. 158088 (2005)
  • Democratic Party v Secretary General, East African Community and 4 Others (EACJ Reference No. 2 of 2012)
  • Society for the Protection of Silent Valley v Union of India (1980) Kerala HC

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

African Network For Animal Welfare v A.G. of Tanzania (Reference 9 of 2010) [2014] EACJ 50 (20 June 2014)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.