VI.
ADMISSIBILITY
35. Pursuant to Rule 50(1) of the Rules, “[t]he Court shall ascertain the
admissibility of an Application filed before it in accordance with Article 56 of
the Charter, Article 6(2) of the Protocol and these Rules.”
36. According to Rule 50(2) of the Rules, which essentially restates Article 56
of the Charter:
Applications filed before the Court shall comply with all of the following
conditions:
a.
Indicate their authors even if the latter request anonymity;
b.
Are compatible with the Constitutive Act of the African Union and with
the Charter;
c.
Are not written in disparaging or insulting language directed against
the State concerned and its institutions or the African Union;
d.
Are not based exclusively on news disseminated through the mass
media;
e.
Are sent after exhausting local remedies, if any, unless it is obvious
that this procedure is unduly prolonged;
f.
Are submitted within a reasonable time from the date local remedies
were exhausted or from the date set by the Court as being the
commencement of the time limit within which it shall be seized with
the matter; and
g.
Do not deal with cases which have been settled by those States
involved in accordance with the principles of the Charter of the United
Nations, or the Constitutive Act of the African Union or the provisions
of the Charter.
37. The Court notes that the Respondent State raises an objection to the
admissibility of the Application on the ground that it was not filed within a
reasonable time from the date local remedies were exhausted as required
by Article 56(6) of the Charter and Rule 50(2)(f) of the Rules. The Court will
first consider this objection (A) and examine other conditions of admissibility
(B) if necessary.
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