Wakilii

Mango and Another v Tanzania (Application No. 005-2015)

African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights · [2018] AfCHPR 12 · 2018 Application Partly Allowed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights alleging violations of fair trial rights following conviction and sentencing for armed robbery in Tanzanian domestic courts
Decision
Application partly allowed; violations of fair trial rights established; matter of reparations remitted for further submissions

Observed later treatment

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Holding

The African Court held that Tanzania violated the applicants' right to a fair trial under Article 7(1)(c) of the African Charter by failing to provide them with free legal assistance throughout their trial and appeals for a serious offence carrying a thirty-year sentence, and by failing to provide them with copies of some witness statements and delaying provision of others. The Court found no violations regarding identification procedures, standard of proof, changing of magistrates, or other procedural matters. The Court dismissed the applicants' prayer for direct release but allowed them to file submissions on other forms of reparation.

Outcome

Application partly allowed; violations of fair trial rights established; matter of reparations remitted for further submissions

Facts

On 3 July 1999, two individuals robbed the Zeid Bureau de Change at Mwanza Hotel in Tanzania at gunpoint. The applicants were arrested on 3 and 4 July 1999 and charged with armed robbery. Following trial before the District Court of Mwanza, they were convicted and sentenced to thirty years imprisonment each on 7 May 2004. Their appeals to the High Court and Court of Appeal were dismissed. An application for review was dismissed on 18 February 2013. The applicants alleged they filed a constitutional petition on 17 June 2013 which was irregularly rejected. They then filed an application before the African Court on 11 February 2015, alleging violations of their fair trial rights including lack of legal representation, delayed provision of witness statements, improper identification procedures, and other procedural irregularities during their trial and appeals.

Issues

  1. Whether the African Court has jurisdiction to hear the application.
  2. Whether the application is admissible, particularly regarding exhaustion of local remedies and filing within a reasonable time.
  3. Whether the applicants' identification procedures complied with fair trial standards.
  4. Whether the failure and delay in providing witness statements violated the right to defence.
  5. Whether the applicants' right to legal representation was violated.
  6. Whether the domestic courts applied the required standard of proof.
  7. Whether the changing of magistrates during trial violated the right to be heard.
  8. Whether the trial court's failure to reference written submissions violated the right to be heard.
  9. Whether contradictory evidence rendered the judgments defective.
  10. Whether the domestic courts misconstrued and misapplied evidence.
  11. Whether the thirty-year sentence was lawful at the time the offence was committed.
  12. Whether Section 142 of Tanzania's Evidence Act is incompatible with international fair trial standards.
  13. Whether the dismissal of the application for review and rejection of the constitutional petition violated the applicants' rights.

Orders

  • Objection to jurisdiction dismissed.
  • Court has jurisdiction.
  • Objections to admissibility dismissed.
  • Application declared admissible.
  • Respondent State found to have violated Article 7(1)(c) of the Charter regarding failure to provide free legal assistance and failure to provide witness statements in a timely manner.
  • Respondent State found to have violated Article 1 of the Charter.
  • Applicants' prayer for direct release from prison not granted.
  • Applicants allowed to file written submissions on other forms of reparation within thirty days.
  • Respondent State to file response within thirty days of receipt of applicants' submissions.
  • Each party to bear their own costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Fair Trial Rights — Right to Legal Representation — Serious Criminal Offences
For serious offences such as armed robbery that carry heavy custodial sentences, a State is under an obligation to provide accused persons, proprio motu and free of charge, the services of a lawyer throughout the judicial proceedings in the local courts.
Fair Trial Rights — Right to Defence — Disclosure of Evidence
The right to defence in criminal matters requires that accused persons be promptly informed of the evidence that will be tendered to support the charges against them, whether testimonial or in other forms, to enable them to prepare their defence. Undue delay in providing witness statements affects the right to prepare a defence and constitutes a violation of the right to a fair trial.
Exhaustion of Local Remedies — Fair Trial Violations — Bundle of Rights
Allegations relating to denial of legal assistance, prolonged detention in police custody, and illegality and harshness of sentence constitute part of the bundle of rights and guarantees related to a fair trial which are not required to have been specifically raised at the domestic level before being brought to an international human rights court.
Admissibility — Reasonable Time — Incarcerated Applicants
The computation of reasonableness of time for filing an application depends on the circumstances of each case and must be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Incarcerated applicants should not be penalised for lack of awareness of the existence of an international court or how to approach it, particularly where the State filed the necessary declaration shortly before local remedies were exhausted.
Jurisdiction — African Court — Not an Appellate Court
The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights is not an appellate court with respect to decisions rendered by national courts. However, this does not preclude it from examining whether the procedures before national courts are in accordance with international standards set out in the Charter or other applicable human rights instruments to which the respondent State is a party.

Legislation cited (11)

  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 1
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 7(1)(c)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 7(2)
  • Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 3(1)
  • Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 34(6)
  • Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 8
  • Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 10
  • Tanzania Criminal Procedure Act Section 214
  • Tanzania Evidence Act Section 142
  • Tanzania Penal Code Sections 285 and 286
  • Tanzania Basic Rights and Duties Enforcement Act

Cases cited (15)

  • Ernest Francis Mtingwi v Republic of Malawi (Application No. 001/2013)
  • Alex Thomas v United Republic of Tanzania (Application No. 005/2013)
  • Mohamed Abubakari v United Republic of Tanzania (Application No. 007/2013)
  • Anudo Ochieng Anudo v Tanzania (Application No. 012/2015)
  • Kennedy Owino Onyachi and Another v United Republic of Tanzania (Application No. 003/2015)
  • Peter Joseph Chacha v United Republic of Tanzania (Application No. 003/2012)
  • Christopher Jonas v United Republic of Tanzania (Application No. 011/2015)
  • Beneficiaries of Late Norbert Zongo and Others v Burkina Faso (Application No. 013/2011)
  • Jean-Claude Roger Gombert v Cote d'Ivoire (Application No. 038/2016)
  • Tanganyika Law Society and the Legal and Human Rights Centre and Reverend Christopher R. Mtikila v United Republic of Tanzania (Application No. 009/2011 and Application No. 011/2011)
  • Action Pour la Protection des Droits de L'Homme v Republic of Cote d'Ivoire (Application No. 001/2014)
  • Case Concerning United States Diplomatic and Consular Staff in Tehran (United States v Iran) [1980] ICJ Rep 3
  • Ezekiel Peter v Republic [1972] Crim. App. 20-DSM-72
  • Waziri Amani v Republic (1980) Tanzania Law Reports 250
  • William R. Gerison v The Republic (Court of Appeal of Tanzania, Criminal Appeal No. 69 of 2004)

Full judgment

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

Mango and Another v Tanzania (Application No. 005-2015) [2018] AfCHPR 12 (11 May 2018)
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.