45. The present Application was filed on 24 February 2017, four (4) years, three
(3) months and nine (9) days after the exhaustion of local remedies.
The
Court must, therefore, decide whether or not this period is reasonable within
the meaning of Charter and the Rules.
46. The Court recalls that “...the reasonableness of a time-limit for filing a case
depends
on
the
particular
circumstances
of each
case,
and
must
be
assessed on a case-by-case basis...”
47.The
Court
provided
has
consistently
for in other
held that the six-month
international
human
rights
time
limit expressly
instruments
cannot
be
applied under Article 56(6) of the Charter. The Court has therefore adopted
a case-by-case approach to assessing the reasonableness of a time limit
within the meaning of Article 56(6) of the Charter.®
48. 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."
49.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
’ Beneficiaries of the late Norbert Zongo, Abdoulaye Nikiema dit Ablassé, Ernest Zongo and Blaise
llboudo & Mouvement Burkinabé des droits de I'homme et des peuples v. Burkina Faso (preliminary
objections) , § 121.
8 Norbert Zongo ibid. See also the judgment in Alex Thomas v. Tanzania (merits), §§ 73 and 74.
8 Alex Thomas v. Tanzanie (merits) (2015) 1 AfCLR 482, §74.
1° Anudo Ochieng Anudo v. United Republic of Tanzania (merits) (2018) 2 AfCLR 248 § 58.
‘1 As the date of deposit of the Declaration recognising the Court's jurisdiction, in accordance with Article
34(6) of the Protocol.
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