CEDAW/C/60/D/48/2013 therefore violated the non-discrimination. 9 constitutional guarantees of equal protection and 2.8 On 8 September 2006, the High Court concluded that “the impugned paragraphs [were] discriminatory in more ways than one”, but that “it was impossible to effect customary change by judicial pronouncements”. It held in particular that it was not contested that the impugned provisions were discriminatory, that they placed women as inferior to men and that they gave preferential protection to men. It decided, however, that it would not overturn the said provisions on the grounds that doing so would “be opening the Pandora’s box, with all the seemingly discriminative customs from our 120 tribes plus following the same path”. The Court considered that the best way to remedy the situation was to recommend that the district councils amend the customary laws, 10 but did not order them to do so. It granted no relief to the authors. 2.9 On 15 September 2006, the authors filed a notice of appeal against the judgement of the High Court. Neither the Attorney General nor the Court of Appeal responded. On 24 January 2007, the authors submitted a memorandum of appeal in which they requested the Court to quash the judgement and to declare the impugned provisions unconstitutional. Again, neither the Attorney General nor the Court reacted. In the absence of a response, the authors wrote to the Chief Justice of the Court on 10 February 2009, requesting that their appeal be determined in a timely fashion. They received no response. On 24 September 2010, the authors filed a certificate of urgency with the Court in which they urged it to hear their appeal. By a letter dated 30 September 2010, the Court responded that the appeal would be listed during its next sessions. On 2 December 2010, the authors filed written submissions before the Court, arguing that the decision of the High Court should be set aside and the impugned provisions declared null and void because they violated the Constitution, the Convention and other international human rights instruments. In particular, the authors submitted that the High Court had erred in abdicating its responsibilities under article 30 (5) of the Constitution and section 13 of the Basic Rights and Duties Enforcement Act by failing to declare the impugned provisions unconstitutional despite finding that they discriminated against women. 2.10 The Court of Appeal considered the authors’ appeal on 7 Decembe r 2010 and dismissed it on 22 December 2010. It noted that the drawn order issued by the High Court erroneously bore two dates: 8 September 2006 and 7 December 2006. It therefore instructed the authors to obtain a new order with the proper date and to __________________ 9 10 15-05820 The Attorney General was the respondent and replied, notably, that the authors had failed to exhaust all remedies before bringing a constitutional claim, given that they should have brought a civil action against the administrators in order to obtain their share of the inheritance. The Attorney General submitted that the authors would have succeeded because restrictions against women’s rights to inherit self-acquired property were breaking down and courts were being sympathetic to members of the deceased’s family who had been denied their rights to the estates of husbands and fathers. The authors responded that the exhaustion of remedies was not a legal prerequisite for filing a constitutional claim and that, in any case, a civil action would not provide them with an effective remedy because it was customary law that prevented them from inheriting equally. The High Court did not address the issue of civil litigation. The High Court referred in particular to section 12 (2) of the Judicature and Applicati on of Laws Act, which states that “a district council may, if in the opinion of the council it is expedient for the good government and welfare of the area, submit for the consideration of the Minister a recommendation for the modification of any customary law, whether or not a declaration has been recorded”. 5/13