41.The
Court
considers
that,
in
accordance
with
its
established
jurisprudence on the assessment of reasonable time, the determining
factors are, inter alia, the status of the Applicant® the conduct of the
Respondent State" or its officials. Furthermore, the Court assesses the
reasonableness
of
the
time
limit
on
the
basis
of
objective
considerations."
42.In
the
case
of Mohamed
Abubakari
v.
Tanzania,
the
Court
held
as
follows: the fact that an Applicant was in prison; he indigent; unable to
pay for a lawyer; did not have the free assistance of a lawyer since 14
July 1997; was illiterate; could not have been aware of the existence of
this
Court
because
circumstances
that
of
its
relatively
justified
some
recent
establishment;
flexibility
in
are
assessing
all
the
reasonableness of the timeline for seizure of the Court. 12
43. Furthermore,
in Alex Thomas v Tanzania, the Court justified its position
as follows:
Considering
the
Applicant's
situation,
that
he
is
a
lay,
indigent,
incarcerated person, compounded with the delay of providing him with
Court records, and his attempt to use extraordinary measures, that is,
the application for review of the Court of Appeal’s decision, we find that
these constitute sufficient grounds to explain why he filed the application
before this Court on 2 August 2013, being three (3) years and four (4)
months after the Respondent made the declaration under Article 34(6)
of the Protocol. For these reasons, the Court finds that the application
has been filed within a reasonable time after the exhaustion of local
remedies as envisaged by Article 55 (6) of the Charter.'%
44.It is also
clear from
the Court's
case-law
that the
Court
declared
admissible an application brought before it three (3) years and six (6)
8 Alex Thomas v. Tanzania (merits) op.cit § 74.
10 Anudo Ochieng Anudo v. Tanzania (merits), op.cit § 58.
11 As the date of deposit of the Declaration recognising the Court's jurisdiction, in accordance with
Article 34(6) of the Protocol.
22 Mohamed Abubakari v. Tanzania (merits) op.cit, § 92.
13 Alex Thomas v. Tanzania (merits) op.cit, § 74.
13