SADC Tribunal

A yellow and white neo-classicist building in bright sunlight. The roof of corrugated iron sheets is painted dark red, on the main gable the inscriptions read "A.D.1913" and "SADC Tribunal". Seven flagpoles with national flags of countries from the Southern African Development Community are mounted onto the pavement in front of the building.
Windhoek's historic Turnhalle building, seat of the SADC Tribunal

The SADC Tribunal was a court and the highest policy institution of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It was housed in the Turnhalle building in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. Although established on paper since 1992, members of the Tribunal were only appointed during the SADC Summit in 2005. On 18 November 2005 the Tribunal was inaugurated and the members were sworn in by Peter Shivute, chief justice of Namibia of the Namibian Supreme Court.[1]

Before the first case was heard by the Tribunal, the Turnhalle burned down on 18 January 2007. The court room was completely destroyed.[2] Reconstruction work started in November 2007.[3]

  1. ^ "SADC Tribunal Brief History". SADC Tribunal. p. 4. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  2. ^ Isaacs, Denver (19 January 2007). "Turnhalle gutted, fireman in ICU". The Namibian.
  3. ^ Isaacs, Denver (29 November 2007). "Turnhalle rises from ashes". The Namibian.