51 . Pursuant to Rule 39 (1) of the Rules, the Court will deal with the questions of its
jurisdiction and admissibility of the Application; if the case arises, the Court will
then examine the merits of the matter.
VII.
Jurisdicti on of the Court
i. Jurisdicti on ratione materiae
52. According to the Respondent, the jurisdiction of the Court, as elaborated in Article 3
(1) of the Protocol and Rules 26 and 40 (2) of the Rules, has not been invoked by
the Applicants . The Respondent avers that the Applicants have merely cited ongoing
cases against them within the national judicial system and have made no attempt to
even mention the Protocol, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
(hereinafter referred to as the "Charter"), or any other relevant human rights
instruments ratified by the Respondent, neither have they complied with the
Constitutive Act of the African Union.
53. The Respondent further states that the allegations in the Application include
allegations against Kenya and Mozambique, States Parties to the Protocol which
have not made the declaration accepting the jurisdiction of the Court to receive
Applications, pursuant to Articles 5 (3) and 34 (6) of the Protocol. The Respondent
adds that the Applicants have alleged that there was a conspiracy between the
Police Forces in Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania in kidnapping and abducting
them, and although two of these States have not been joined in the Application, they
are inadvertently involved due to the nature of the allegations of conspiracy which
have been raised.
54. The Respondent concludes by praying that ''the Applicants should be denied access
to the Court and the Application should be duly dismissed for having failed to invoke
the jurisdiction of the Court".
17