(c) the Judge is acquitted of an offence referred to in paragraph 1(d) by a court of competent jurisdiction in a Partner State.
3. The tribunal appointed under paragraph 1(a) of this Article shall consist of three eminent Judges drawn from within the Commonwealth of Nations.
4. At any time when the President of the Appellate Division, or the Principal Judge of the First Instance Division of the Court is for any reason unable to perform the functions of his or her office, those functions shall be performed by the Vice-President or the Deputy Principal Judge, as the case may be.
5. The procedure for filling vacancies in the Court shall be prescribed in rules of the Court.
6. If a Judge is directly or indirectly interested in a case before the Court, and if he or she considers that the nature of his or her interest is such that it would be prejudicial for him or her to take part in that case, such a Judge shall, if in the First Instance Division, make a report to the Principal Judge, or, if in the Appellate Division, make a report to the President, and if the President or Principal Judge considers the Judge’s interest in the case prejudicial, the President or Principal Judge, as the case may be, shall make a report to the Chairperson of the Summit, and the Summit shall appoint a temporary Judge to act for that case only in place of the substantive Judge.
7. If the President or Principal Judge of the Court is directly or indirectly interested in a case before the Court he or she shall, if he or she considers that the nature of his or her interest is such that it would be prejudicial for him or her to take part in that case, make a report to the Chairperson of the Summit and the Summit shall appoint a temporary President or Principal Judge of the Court to act as President or Principal Judge of the Court for that case only in place of the substantive President or Principal Judge of the Court.
Article 27. Jurisdiction of the Court
1. The Court shall initially have jurisdiction over the interpretation and application of this Treaty: Provided that the Court 's jurisdiction to interpret under this paragraph shall not include the application of any such interpretation to jurisdiction conferred by the Treaty on organs of Partner States.
2. The Court shall have such other original, appellate, human rights and other jurisdiction as will be determined by the Council at a suitable subsequent date. To this end, the Partner States shall conclude a protocol to operationalise the extended jurisdiction.
Article 28. Reference by Partner States
1. A Partner State which considers that another Partner State or an organ or institution of the Community has failed to fulfil an obligation under this Treaty or has infringed a provision of this Treaty, may refer the matter to the Court for adjudication.
2. A Partner State may refer for determination by the Court, the legality of any Act, regulation, directive, decision or action on the ground that it is ultra vires or unlawful or an infringement of the provisions of this Treaty or any rule of law relating to its application or amounts to a misuse or abuse of power.
Article 29. Reference by the Secretary General
1. Where the Secretary General considers that a Partner State has failed to fulfil an obligation under this Treaty or has infringed a provision of this Treaty, the Secretary General shall submit his or her findings to the Partner State concerned for that Partner State to submit its observations on the findings.
2. If the Partner State concerned does not submit its observations to the Secretary General within four months, or if the observations submitted are unsatisfactory, the Secretary General shall refer the matter to the Council which shall decide whether the matter should be referred by the Secretary General to the Court immediately or be resolved by the Council.
3. Where a matter has been referred to the Council under the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article and the Council fails to resolve the matter, the Council shall direct the Secretary General to refer the matter to the Court.
Article 30. Reference by Legal and Natural Persons
1. Subject to the provisions of Article 27 of this Treaty, any person who is resident in a Partner State may refer for determination by the Court, the legality of any Act, regulation, directive, decision or action of a Partner State or an institution of the Community on the grounds that such Act, regulation, directive, decision or action is unlawful or is an infringement of the provisions of this Treaty.
2. The proceedings provided for in this Article shall be instituted 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, as the case may be;
3. The Court shall have no jurisdiction under this Article where an Act, regulation, directive, decision or action has been reserved under this Treaty to an institution of a Partner State.
Article 31. Disputes between the Community and Its Employees
The Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine disputes between the Community and its employees that arise out of the terms and conditions of employment of the employees of the Community or the application and interpretation of the staff rules and regulations and terms and conditions of service of the Community.
Article 32. Arbitration Clauses and Special Agreements
The Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine any matter:
(a) arising from an arbitration clause contained in a contract or agreement which confers such jurisdiction to which the Community or any of its institutions is a party; or
(b) arising from a dispute between the Partner States regarding this Treaty if the dispute is submitted to it under a special agreement between the Partner States concerned; or
(c) arising from an arbitration clause contained in a commercial contract or agreement in which the parties have conferred jurisdiction on the Court.
Article 33. Jurisdiction of National Courts
1. Except where jurisdiction is conferred on the Court by this Treaty, disputes to which the Community is a party shall not on that ground alone, be excluded from the jurisdiction of the national courts of the Partner States.
2. Decisions of the Court on the interpretation and application of this Treaty shall have precedence over decisions of national courts on a similar matter.
Article 34. Preliminary Rulings of National Courts
Where a question is raised before any court or tribunal of a Partner State concerning the interpretation or application of the provisions of this Treaty or the validity of the regulations, directives, decisions or actions of the Community, that court or tribunal shall, if it considers that a ruling on the question is necessary to enable it to give judgment, request the Court to give a preliminary ruling on the question.
Article 35. Judgment of the Court
1. The Court shall consider and determine every reference made to it pursuant to this Treaty in accordance with rules of the Court and shall deliver in public session, a reasoned judgment: Provided that if the Court considers that in the special circumstances of the case it is undesirable that its judgment be delivered in open court, the Court may make an order to that effect and deliver its judgment before the parties privately.
2. The Court shall deliver one judgment only in respect of every reference to it, which shall be the judgment of the Court reached in private by majority verdict; Provided that a Judge may deliver a dissenting judgment.
3. An application for review of a judgment may be made to the Court only if it is based upon the discovery of some fact which by its nature might have had a decisive influence on the judgment if it had been known to the Court at the time the judgment was given, but which fact, at that time, was unknown to both the Court and the party making the application, and which could not, with reasonable diligence, have been discovered by that party before the judgment was made, or on account of some mistake, fraud or error on the face of the record or because an injustice has been done.
Article 35A. Appeals
1. An appeal from the judgment or any order of the First Instance Division of the Court shall lie to the Appellate Division on
(a) points of law;
(b) grounds of lack of jurisdiction; or
(c) procedural irregularity.
Article 36. Advisory Opinions of the Court
1. The Summit, the Council or a Partner State may request the Court to give an advisory opinion regarding a question of law arising from this Treaty which affects the Community, and the Partner State, the Secretary General or any other Partner State shall in the case of every such request have the right to be represented and take part in the proceedings.
2. A request for an advisory opinion under paragraph 1 of this Article shall contain an exact statement of the question upon which an opinion is required and shall be accompanied by all relevant documents likely to be of assistance to the Court.
3. Upon the receipt of the request under paragraph 1 of this Article, the Registrar shall immediately give notice of the request, to all the Partner States, and shall notify them that the Court shall be prepared to accept, within a time fixed by the President of the Court, written submissions, or to hear oral submissions relating to the question.
4. In the exercise of its advisory function, the Court shall be governed by this Treaty and rules of the Court relating to references of disputes to the extent that the Court considers appropriate.
Article 37. Appearance Before the Court
1. Every party to a dispute or reference before the Court may be represented by an advocate entitled to appear before a superior court of any of the Partner States appointed by that party.
2. The Counsel to the Community shall be entitled to appear before the Court in any matter in which the Community or any of its institutions is a party or in respect of any matter where the Counsel to the Community thinks that such an appearance would be desirable.
Article 38. Acceptance of Judgments of the Court
1. Any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of this Treaty or any of the matters referred to the Court pursuant to this Chapter shall not be subjected to any method of settlement other than those provided for in this Treaty.
2. Where a dispute has been referred to the Council or the Court, the Partner States shall refrain from any action which might be detrimental to the resolution of the dispute or might aggravate the dispute.
3. A Partner State or the Council shall take, without delay, the measures required to implement a judgment of the Court.
Article 39. Interim Orders
The Court may, in a case referred to it, make any interim orders or issue any directions which it considers necessary or desirable. Interim orders and other directions issued by the Court shall have the same effect ad interim as decisions of the Court.
Article 40. Intervention
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.
Article 41. Proceedings
1. The quorum for deliberations of the Court shall be prescribed in rules of the Court.
2. The proceedings before the Court shall be either written or oral. 3. The record of each hearing shall be signed by the President or Vice President of the Court and shall be kept and maintained by the Registrar.
Article 42. Rules of the Court and Oaths of Office
1. The Court shall make rules of the Court which shall, subject to the provisions of this Treaty, regulate the detailed conduct of the business of the Court.
2. The Secretary General shall prepare the oath and declarations that the Judges and the Registrar of the Court shall take before the Summit upon their appointment or make upon entering into their duties.
Article 43. Immunity of the Judges and the Holding of other Offices
1. The Judges of the Court shall be immune from legal action for any act or omission committed in the discharge of their judicial functions under this Treaty.
2. A Judge of the Court shall neither hold any political office or any office in the service of a Partner State or the Community nor engage in any trade, vocation or profession that is likely to interfere or create a conflict of interest to his or her position.
Article 44. Execution of Judgments
The execution of a judgment of the Court which imposes a pecuniary obligation on a person shall be governed by the rules of civil procedure in force in the Partner State in which execution is to take place. The order for execution shall be appended to the judgment of the Court which shall require only the verification of the authenticity of the judgment by the Registrar whereupon, the party in whose favour execution is to take place, may proceed to execute the judgment.
Article 45. Registrar of the Court and other Staff
1. The Council shall appoint a Registrar of the Court from among citizens of the Partner States qualified to hold such high judicial office in their respective Partner States.
2. The Court shall employ such other staff as may be required to enable it to perform its functions and who shall hold office in the service of the Court.
3. The salary and other conditions of service of the Registrar and other staff of the Court shall be determined by the Council.
4. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article the Registrar shall be responsible to the President of the Court for the day to day administration of the business of the Court. The Registrar shall also carry out the duties imposed upon him by this Treaty and rules of the Court.
Article 46. Official Language of the Court
The official language of the Court shall be English.
Article 47. Seat of the Court
The Seat of the Court shall be determined by the Summit.
Chapter Nine. The East African Legislative Assembly
Article 48. Membership of the Assembly
1. The membership of the Assembly shall comprise
(a) nine members elected by each Partner State; and
(b) ex-officio members consisting of:
(i) the Minister responsible for East African Community affairs from each Partner State; and
(ii) the Assistant Minister or Deputy Minister or Minister of State responsible for East African Community affairs from each Partner State: Provided that an Assistant Minister, Deputy Minister or Minister of State may only participate in the meetings of the Assembly when the substantive Minister responsible for East African Community affairs is for any reason unable to participate; and
(iii) the Secretary General and the Counsel to the Community.
2. The Speaker of the Assembly shall preside over and take part in its proceedings in accordance with the rules of procedure of the Assembly.
3. The Assembly shall have committees which shall be constituted in the manner provided in the rules of procedure of the Assembly and shall perform the functions provided in respect thereof in the said rules of procedure.
4. The Council shall appoint a Clerk of the Assembly and other officers of the Assembly whose salaries and other terms and conditions of service shall be determined by the Council.
Article 49. Functions of the Assembly
1. The Assembly shall be the legislative organ of the Community.
2. The Assembly:
(a) shall liaise with the National Assemblies of the Partner States on matters relating to the Community;
(b) shall debate and approve the budget of the Community;
(c) shall consider annual reports on the activities of the Community, annual audit reports of the Audit Commission and any other reports referred to it by the Council;
(d) shall discuss all matters pertaining to the Community and make recommendations to the Council as it may deem necessary for the implementation of the Treaty;
(e) may for purposes of carrying out its functions, establish any committee or committees for such purposes as it deems necessary;
(f) shall recommend to the Council the appointment of the Clerk and other officers of the Assembly; and
(g) shall make its rules of procedure and those of its committees.
3. The Assembly may perform any other functions as are conferred upon it by this Treaty.
Article 50. Election of Members of the Assembly
1. The National Assembly of each Partner State shall elect, not from among its members, nine members of the Assembly, who shall represent as much as it is feasible, the various political parties represented in the National Assembly, shades of opinion, gender and other special interest groups in that Partner State, in accordance with such procedure as the National Assembly of each Partner State may determine.
2. A person shall be qualified to be elected a member of the Assembly by the National Assembly of a Partner State in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article if such a person:
(a) is a citizen of that Partner State;
(b) is qualified to be elected a member of the National Assembly of that Partner State under its Constitution;
(c) is not holding office as a Minister in that Partner State;
(d) is not an officer in the service of the Community; and
(e) has proven experience or interest in consolidating and furthering the aims and the objectives of the Community.
Article 51. Tenure of Office of Elected Members
1. Subject to this Article, an elected member of the Assembly shall hold office for five years and be eligible for re-election for a further term of five years.
2. The terms and conditions of service of the Members of the Assembly shall be determined by the Summit on the recommendation of the Council.
3. An elected member of the Assembly shall vacate his or her seat in the Assembly upon the happening of any of the following events:
(a) upon the delivery of his or her resignation in writing to the Speaker of the Assembly;
(b) upon his or her ceasing to be qualified for election as an elected member;
(c) upon his or her election or nomination as a member of the Nationa l Assembly of a Partner State;
(d) upon his or her appointment as a Minister in the Government of a Partner State;
(e) upon his or her having been absent from the Assembly for such period and in such circumstances as are prescribed by the rules of procedure of the Assembly; or
(f) upon his or her conviction by a Court of competent jurisdiction of an offence and sentenced to imprisonment for a term exceeding six months and if no appeal has been preferred against such a decision.
Article 52. Questions as to Membership of the Assembly
1. Any question that may arise whether any person is an elected member of the Assembly or whether any seat on the Assembly is vacant shall be determined by the institution of the Partner State that determines questions of the election of members of the National Assembly responsible for the election in question.
2. The National Assembly of the Partner States shall notify the Speaker of the Assembly of every determination made under paragraph 1 of this Article.
Article 53. Speaker of the Assembly
1. The Speaker of the Assembly shall be elected on rotational basis by the elected members of the Assembly from among themselves to serve for a period of five years.
2. The Speaker of the Assembly shall vacate his or her office:
(a) upon the expiry of the period for which he or she was elected;
(b) if he or she delivers his or her resignation in writing to the elected members; or
(c) if he or she ceases to be qualified for election as Speaker of the Assembly.
3. The Speaker of the Assembly may be removed from office by a resolution supported by not less than two thirds majority of the elected members for inability to perform the functions of his or her office, whether arising from infirmity of mind or body or for misconduct.
Article 54. Invitation of Persons to Assist the Assembly
1. The Speaker of the Assembly, may invite any person to attend the Assembly, notwithstanding that he or she is not a member of the Assembly, if in his or her opinion the business before the Assembly renders his or her presence desirable.
2. The rules of procedure of the Assembly shall make provisions for a person so invited to take part in the proceedings of the Assembly relating to the matters in respect of which he or she was invited.
Article 55. Meetings of the Assembly
1. The meetings of the Assembly shall be held at such times and places as the Assembly may appoint.
2. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article, the Assembly shall meet at least once in every year at Arusha in the United Republic of Tanzania and at a time to be determined by the Assembly.
Article 56. Presiding In the Assembly
There shall preside at any sitting of the Assembly:
(a) the Speaker of the Assembly, or
(b) in the absence of the Speaker of the Assembly, such elected member of the Assembly as the elected members may elect for the sitting.
Article 57. Quorum and Vacancies In the Assembly
1. Subject to this Article, the rules of procedure of the Assembly shall make provision as to the number and composition of the elected members that shall constitute a quorum of the Assembly.
2. In reckoning the number of members who are present for the purposes of paragraph 1 of this Article, the person presiding shall not be taken into account.
3. The Assembly may transact business notwithstanding that there is a vacancy among its members, and the attendance or participation of any person not entitled to attend or participate in the proceedings of the Assembly shall not invalidate those proceedings.
Article 58. Voting In the Assembly
1. All questions proposed for decision in the Assembly shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting.
2. The ex-officio members of the Assembly shall not be entitled to vote in the Assembly.
3. When in the absence of the Speaker of the Assembly a member is presiding in the Assembly, the member presiding shall retain his or her right to vote.
4. If the votes of the members are equally divided upon any motion before the Assembly, the motion shall be lost.
Article 59. Bills and Motions In the Assembly
1. Subject to the rules of procedure of the Assembly, any member may propose any motion or introduce any Bill in the Assembly: Provided that a motion which does not relate to the functions of the Community shall not be proposed in the Assembly, and a Bill which does not relate to a matter with respect to which Acts of the Community may be enacted shall not be introduced into the Assembly.
2. The Assembly shall not:
(a) proceed on any Bill, including an amendment to any Bill, that, in the opinion of the person presiding, makes provision for any of the following purposes: