In the current Application, the Applicants are nine Ivorian individuals. Furthermore, nowhere in the file before the Court is a connection between APDH and the Applicants suggested, let alone established. However, since both the current Application and APDH v Céte D'Ivoire (merits) can be qualified as public interest cases, the “identity of the parties”, can be considered as being similar, to the extent that they both aim to protect the interest of the public at large, rather than only specific private interests. Therefore, the Court holds that the criteria of “identity of parties” has been met. 106. The second criterion concerns the similarity of the Application. While it is undisputed that the current Application is largely concerned with a similar subjectmatter, namely the independence and impartiality of the Respondent State’s electoral body, the Court still needs to determine whether the legal and factual elements of the Application are the same. 107. In the instant Application, the Court notes that the legal and factual basis to decide on the independence and impartiality of the Respondent's electoral body are not the same. According to the Applicants, no Application concerning Law No. 2019-708 of 5 August 2019 relating to the recomposition of the IEC has ever been filed. The Court also notes that the Application in APDH v Céte D'Ivoire (merits) contested Law 2014-335 of 18 June 2014 on the Independent Electoral Commission. 108. Therefore, considering that the Applicants contest a new law which was adopted after the 2017 judgment and considering that subsequent events have changed the factual situation previously known to the Court, the Court finds that the second criterion has not been met. 109. Concerning merits the third criterion which exists, the Court observes interrogates whether a first decision that no decision exists concerning on the conformity between the impugned new law on the electoral body of 2019 and the international legal instruments invoked by the Applicants. Therefore, the Court finds that this criterion has not been met. 23