the Charter nor the Rules specify the time frame within which applications
must be filed, after the exhaustion of local remedies. As per the Court’s
jurisprudence, “…the reasonableness of the timeframe for seizure depends
on the specific circumstances of the case and should be determined on a
case-to-case basis.”12
44. In the instant Application, the Court notes that the decision of the Court of
Appeal was rendered on 3 August 2016 while the Application was filed on
22 March 2019. The period at stake hence is two years, seven months and
nineteen days. It is this period, therefore, that the Court must assess to
determine reasonableness.
45. In its jurisprudence, the Court has taken into consideration, among other
factors, incarceration and the resultant limited movement and limited access
to information13 as being relevant factors in determining the reasonableness
of time.14
46. In Matoke Mwita and Masero Mkami v. United Republic of Tanzania, for
example, the Court held that a period of two years and one month was a
reasonable period within which to approach the Court.15 In this case, the
applicants were lay and serving life sentences. Similarly, in Alex Thomas v.
United Republic of Tanzania16 the Court also held that a period of three
years and five months to file an application was reasonable in
circumstances where the applicant was lay, indigent and incarcerated with
lack of access to information.
47. In the present Application, given the Applicants’ situation as lay and
incarcerated persons, who were serving a life sentence and had been
convicted in proceedings where they allege having not been provided legal
12 Norbert Zongo and Others v. Burkina Faso (merits) (28 March 2014) 1 AfCLR 219, § 92.
Igola Iguna v. United Republic of Tanzania, ACtHPR, Application No. 020/2017, Judgment of 1
December 2022 (merits and reparations), §§ 37-38.
14 Thomas v. Tanzania (merits), supra, § 73; Amir Ramadhani v. United Republic of Tanzania (merits)
(11 May 2018) 2 AfCLR 344, § 83.
15 ACtHPR, Application No. 007/2016, Judgment of 13 June 2023 (merits and reparations), §§ 42-44.
16 Thomas v. Tanzania (merits), supra, §§ 73-74.
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