observed from the record of proceedings. The Court, therefore, finds that the duration of six (6) years, ten (10) months and twenty-two (22) days cannot be considered as reasonable. 137. Consequently, the Court holds that the Respondent State violated the Applicant’s right to be tried within a reasonable time as provided for under Article 7(1)(d) of the Charter. iv. Failure to provide him with interpretation services 138. The Applicant alleges that the Respondent State failed to provide him with an interpreter at the pre-trial and trial proceedings despite his native language being Kinyambo. He avers that the trial was conducted in Kiswahili and English, which created a language barrier, particularly because he did not comprehend English at the time. Notably, he claims that he was unable to engage meaningfully at his trial since he could not understand what the witnesses, judge, assessors were saying and also had difficulty communicating with his counsel. He avers that if an interpreter had been provided, he would have objected to his counsel’s submissions which were deviating from his position, and requested that it be disregarded by the Court. 139. Citing Article 14(3)(f) of the ICCPR and several other cases,52 the Applicant contends that since he did not understand the language of communication used during criminal proceedings, he was entitled to free assistance of an interpreter, even when he did not specifically request for one.53 He surmises that the right to an interpreter is implicit under the right to a fair trial and extends beyond the criminal trial and to all stages of the legal proceedings including with respect to documentary material and pre-trial proceedings.54 * 52 Bozbey v. Turkmenistan, Human Rights Committee, Communication No. 1530/2006, (Oct. 27, 2010), § 72; Sobhraj v. Nepal, Human Rights Committee, Communication No 1870/2009, (July 27, 2010), § 72. 53 Hermi v. Italy, ECHR, Judgement, Application No. 18114/02 (Oct 18, 2007), § 70. 54 Diallo v. Sweden, ECHR, Judgement, Application No. 13205/07 (Jan 5.2010), § 23; Luedicke, Belkacem and Koç v. Germany, ECHR, Judgement, Application No 13205/07 (Nov. 28, 1978), § 48. 38

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