In this application the First and Second to Seventh Applicants seek declaratory relief relating to two decisions by the Executive to support a resolution suspending the operation of the Southern African Development Community Tribunal in 2011 and to sign the subsequent Protocol in 2014.

The first decision was taken on 20 May 2011, when the President decided to support a resolution in effect suspending the operation of this Tribunal, and the second decision was taken on 18 August 2014, when the President signed the relevant Protocol which limited the Tribunal’s jurisdiction to inter-state disputes to the exclusion, henceforth, of private parties. The First and Second Amici Curiae support the application of the First Applicant albeit for different reasons.

Click here to read the judgment on Saflii