and Peoples’ Rights (hereinafter, referred to as “the Charter”) on 21 October 1986 and to the Protocol on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (hereinafter referred to as “the Protocol”) on 28 July 1998. The Protocol entered into force on 25 January 2004. Furthermore, on 28 July 1998, the Respondent State deposited the Declaration provided in Article 34(6) of the Protocol (hereinafter referred to as “the Declaration”), by virtue of which it accepts the jurisdiction of the Court to receive Applications from individuals and Non-Governmental Organizations having observer status before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. However, the Declaration did not take effect until the entry into force of the Protocol on 25 January 2004. II. SUBJECT OF THE APPLICATION A. Facts of the matter 3. It emerges from the Application that in July 2019, the President of the Respondent State signed a decree pertaining to a national dialogue in preparation for elections scheduled to be held in 2020. According to the Applicants, the dialogue, which took place from 5 to 22 July 2019, culminated in a report.1 4. The Applicants aver that on 23 January 2020, the Government tabled before the National Assembly a draft bill to amend the Electoral Code based on the dialogue report. They further aver that the said amendment of the Electoral Code was undertaken while people in several regions of the Respondent State had fled their homes and sought refuge in the regions bordering neighbouring countries due to the insecurity that prevailed in the Respondent State. According to the Applicants, several mayors had also left their towns for the same reason. It is the Applicants contention that, 1 It emerges from the said report that the Independent National Electoral Commission did not have access to certain parts of the Respondent State’s territory severely impacted by insecurity. 2