By Wezi Tjaronda WINDHOEK The SADC Tribunal has embarked on its second phase since it became operational and is now ready for people who want to register cases. Since its launch in 2005, no dispute has been brought before the Tribunal, one of the institutions of SADC. Registrar of the SADC Tribunal, Justice Charles Mkandawire, told New Era yesterday that the first phase dealt with the operationalization of the Tribunal, during which time the office had to purchase equipment and, now that the office has systems in place, it could take in cases. “We cannot go about asking for cases. We anticipate cases as people get to know the functions of the Tribunal and its jurisdiction,” he said. Mkandawire was speaking on the sidelines of a stakeholders’ workshop on the role of the SADC Tribunal in regional integration. The workshop, the very first since the launch of the legal institution, was meant to raise awareness on the Tribunal regarding who can access it, how and where. Mkandawire said being an institution for the citizens of the community, if citizens do not understand it, the tribunal could easily be reduced to a white elephant. Tribunal President, Justice Dr Luis Antonio Mondlane, said although it was important to have sound legislative activity, it was equally important for people to know about the institution. “This very important legislative activity in SADC will have a positive impact on people when all the laws are first domesticated and duly applied, and also when people seek redress in cases of violations of their rights as prescribed in regulations,” said Mondlane. Since the creation of the Tribunal through the SADC treaty, signed in 1992, Mondlane said it was time now to trace out the Tribunal from a letter to a living statue. “Regional integration is not realized by decree, but it has to be built on a daily basis by citizens of southern Africa,” said the Tribunal President, adding that trends in regional integration are not static but dynamic and changing in nature. Opening the workshop yesterday, Chief Justice Peter Shivute said the jurisprudence developed by the Tribunal would create a rich and large corpus of law and would be available to domestic courts, a linkage that Shivute said should not be overlooked because the role of the legislative body is envisaged in the legal regimes of the region as a territorial block. Shivute said the founders of SADC were conscious of the duty of all member states to promote interdependence and integration of the national economies in order to achieve a harmonious, balanced and equitable development in SADC. Considering the many areas of cooperation, Shivute said it was obvious that disputes would occur, hence the establishment of the Tribunal. The aim of the Tribunal is to ensure that member states properly interpret and apply the provision of the Treaty and the Protocols and other subsidiary instruments by determining disputes that may arise from the interpretation and application of the Treaty and the subsidiary instruments. The Tribunal has jurisdiction to hear disputes between member states, member states and community, natural or legal persons and community, and between community and staff. The Tribunal also gives advisory opinions at the request of the Summit of the Council. The Tribunal can, however, not hear a matter brought by a natural or legal person against a member state unless the person has exhausted all available remedies or is unable to proceed under domestic jurisdiction. However, UNAM’S Francois Bangamwabo, in his commentary expressed concern over the lack of provision for the Bill of Rights. The SADC treaty refers to the respect for human rights and the rule of law and does not provide for the Bill of Rights. He wondered how social economic development could be achieved without protection of human rights, saying that massive and widespread violation of fundamental human rights by members hampers regional integration. He urged the Tribunal to adopt the European Court of Justice approach, which later on adopted a robust judicial activism approach. Other critical issues raised by Bangamwabo include the proliferation of regional tribunals, which may give rise to conflicting jurisdiction, and the harmonization of different legal systems applied within the community.