been heard. According to the Defendant State, if this investigation has not yet come to an end, it is due to the unstable political and institutional situation of the country. A likely delay observed cannot be taken to be a lack of any likely will from the national authorities of Guinea Bissau. Secondly, the Republic of Guinea Bissau argued that the Plaintiff/Applicant lacks the quality to act, knowing full well that she « is not the officially declared wife of late President Joao Bernardo Vieira ». Defendant State added that pursuant to the national laws of Guinea Bissau, a man cannot take more than one wife, officially, that any « marriage » other than the one that is admitted cannot be regarded as valid. The Defendant State also argued that its national legislation does not recognize polygamy, and averred that late President Vieira was known to be officially married to Lady Isabel Romano Vieira, with whom he had many children, before pointing out that the officially recognized wife was in the late President’s residence, by his side, when he was assassinated. Thirdly, the State of Guinea Bissau claimed that « it is only in a situation where the criminal proceedings ae not initiated in the Member State that the victim can bring a case before the regional court (…). The victim was under the obligation to exhaust all local remedies of the Member State before having quality to act before the ECOWAS Court of Justice. » Finally, the Defendant State held that the sum sought as reparation was exorbitantly fixed, and that if by any extraordinary means the Court was made to consider it, there is need to beat it down considerably. 6