53. Recalling that the admissibility requirements in Rule 50(2) of the Rules are
cumulative, the Respondent State submits that the Court should declare the
Application inadmissible.
54. The Applicant maintains that his Application was filed within a reasonable
time and that the Respondent State’s objection in this regard should be
dismissed. He states that even if the Respondent State subscribed to the
individual complaint mechanism on 9 March 2010, he became aware of the
existence of the Court only between late 2015 and early 2016. The Applicant
attributes his unawareness of the existence of the Court to the fault of the
Respondent State, which he asserts deprived him of any knowledge of the
Court.
55. The Applicant further asserts that the six (6) month period, which the
Respondent State has referenced as indicative of international human rights
jurisprudence on this matter, should not be automatically applied to his
unique circumstances. He contends that given his status as an incarcerated
individual without legal representation, the evaluation of the reasonableness
of the time he took to bring his case before the Court should be considered
within the context of his situation to ensure a fair and equitable
determination.
***
56. The Court notes that, with regard to filing the Application within a reasonable
time, neither Article 56(6) of the Protocol nor Rule 50(2)(f) of the Rules set
a precise time-limit. Having acknowledge this, the Court has previously
observed that: “… the reasonableness of the timeframe for seizure depends
on the specific circumstances of the case and should be determined on a
case-by-case basis.”17
57. In its jurisprudence, the Court has previously taken into consideration
circumstances such as imprisonment, being lay without the benefit of legal
17
Norbert Zongo and Others v. Burkina Faso (merits) (2014) 1 AfCLR 219, § 92. See also Thomas v.
Tanzania (merits), supra, § 73.
15