that the Court has jurisdiction to entertain prayers (a), (b) and (e)
of the Reference, and that it is not clothed with the jurisdiction
to grant prayers (c) and (d), since the latter clearly falls outside
the Court’s jurisdiction as provided for by Articles 23, 27 as read
together with Article 30 of the Treaty.
WHETHER THE REFERENCE IS TIME-BARRED
35.
As stated earlier, this issue was raised as a preliminary
objection by Counsel for the 2nd Respondent. It is necessary to
deal with it at this stage, since if it is answered in the affirmative,
it would dispose of the whole Reference.
36.
Counsel for the 2nd Respondent submitted that in light of
the limitation period set to institute references of this nature
pursuant to Article 30(2) of the Treaty, the matter was timebarred and the Reference should be dismissed with costs. Article
30(2) provides that:
“The proceedings provided for in this Article shall be
instituted
within
two
months
of
the
enactment,
publication, directive, decision or action complained
of, or in the absence thereof, of the day in which it
came to the knowledge of the complainant, as the case
may be.”
37.
To buttress his assertion that the instant case was filed out
of time, Counsel referred to Applicant’s relevant averments
contained in paragraphs 10 to 15 of the Reference, and
paragraphs 12 to 17 of Deo Nzeyimana’s affidavit in support of
the Reference. It is his contention, therefore, that since the
impugned detention commenced on 15th June 2011, which is the
REFERENCE NO.3 OF 2012
Page 13