54. The Respondent State affirms that the Declaration it deposited in 2013
cannot apply to events that occurred in 2006, and, therefore, to all the
alleged violations of the right to life and physical integrity, the right to an
effective remedy, the right to health, the right to a healthy environment and
the right to information.
*
55. For their part, the Applicants aver that the Respondent State ratified the
Charter on 6 January 1992 and became a party to the Protocol on 7 January
2003, and that having ratified these instruments, it has an obligation to
comply with these provisions, even if it only deposited the Declaration in
2013. The Applicants contend that in its judgment in Peter Joseph Chacha
v. Tanzania, the Court clarified that a State Party’s obligation to protect
human rights guaranteed by the Charter takes effect immediately upon
ratification. Thus, in their view, the State is liable for the violation of the right
to life, the right to an effective remedy, the right to health, the right to a
healthy environment and the right to information.
56. The Applicants further submit that the Court’s jurisdiction in relation to
States Parties does not run from the date of deposit of the Declaration
insofar as that provision does not relate to the Court’s temporal jurisdiction,
but merely clarifies the Court’s personal jurisdiction. According to the
Applicants, the temporal jurisdiction of the Court extends to all violations
occurring after the ratification of the Charter.
57. In this regard, the Applicants affirm that in its Ruling on Preliminary
Objections Norbert Zongo and Others v. Burkina Faso, the Court held that
its jurisdiction derives from the ratification of its founding Protocol and not
from the Declaration.
***
58. The Court notes that its temporal jurisdiction is determined from the date of
entry into force of the Protocol which established it and not from the date of
deposit of the declaration, the latter date relates only to its personal
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