Human Rights our Collective Responsibility 49. The Commission considers that Seventeen months of inaction on the part of the State following the introduction of a complaint by the Second Victim is an unduly prolonged period. The Commission notes also that Articles 454 and 455 of the Egyptian Criminal Procedure Code prohibit courts from reconsidering criminal proceedings in which a final decision has been made, even if new evidence is produced. The Commission considers that for the Victim to exhaust local remedies, these remedies must exist not only in theory but also in practice. The Victim must be able to pursue the remedies without difficulties or impediments and must be able to use the remedies in the .;h_. ,~ circumstances of his/her case." 50. In the present Communication, the Complainants have amply demonstrated that because of the acquittal of the accused in the First Victim's case, the remedies that would otherwise have been available to the Second Victim, have been rendered inexistent by the legislation in force, which bars any court from subsequently reconsidering the allegations against the accused, even if these allegations are made by a different victim. It is therefore apparent that the Second Vietim could not have had unimpeded access to the local remedy. 51. From the above, the Commission considers that tlje remedies that were ordinarily available to the Second Victim were unduly prolonged on the one hand and insufficient to redress the violations complained of on the other. THE DECISION OF THE COMMISSION ON ADMISSIBILITY 52. Because of the above reasons, the Commission declared this Communication Admissible in accordance with Article 56 of the African Charter. MERITS 53. In the merits of this Communication, the Commission is called upon to determine whether the alleged acts or omissions by State or its agents are a violation of rights under the African Charter; specifically, Articles 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 11, 18(3) and 26. PARTIES' SUBMISSIONS ON MERITS 54. Despite several reminders to the Respondent State to file submissions on the merits, the latter has failed to do so. The communication is, therefore, considered ex-parte, based on 8 Citing Dauida [auiara v. The Gambia, Comm. Nos. 147/95 and 149/96, para 46 10 I P age The African Commission 0