29. In relation to its personal jurisdiction, the Court recalls, as stated in
paragraph 2 of this judgment that, on 21 November 2019, the Respondent
State deposited with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, an
instrument withdrawing its Declaration deposited under Article 34(6) of the
Protocol. The Court further recalls that, as it has previously held, the
withdrawal of a Declaration does not have any retroactive effect and also
has no bearing on matters pending prior to the filing of the instrument
withdrawing the Declaration, or new cases filed before the withdrawal takes
effect as is the case of the present Application.10 Given that this Application
was filed before the withdrawal of the Declaration, it is not affected by the
said withdrawal. In light of the foregoing, the Court finds that it has personal
jurisdiction to examine this Application.
30. In respect of its temporal jurisdiction, the Court notes that the violations
alleged by the Applicants occurred after the Respondent State became a
Party to the Charter but before it ratified the Protocol. However, the alleged
violations are continuing since the Applicants remain convicted on the basis
of what he considers an unfair process.11 Given the preceding, the Court
holds that it has temporal jurisdiction to examine this Application.
31. As for its territorial jurisdiction, the Court notes that the violations alleged by
the Applicants occurred within the territory of the Respondent State, which
is a state party to the Protocol. In the circumstances, the Court holds that it
has territorial jurisdiction.
32. In light of all of the above, the Court holds that it has jurisdiction to determine
the present Application.
10
Cheusi v. Tanzania, supra, §§ 35-39; Ingabire Victoire Umuhoza v. United Republic of Rwanda
(jurisdiction) (3 June 2016) 1 AfCLR 562, § 67.
11 See Msuguri v. Tanzania, supra, § 30; African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v. Republic
of Kenya (merits) (26 May 2017) 2 AfCLR 9, §§ 64-65; Norbert Zongo and Others v. Burkina Faso
(preliminary objections) (25 June 2013) 1 AfCLR 197, §§ 71-77, 83.
9