Applications to the Court shall comply with the following conditions: a. disclose the identity of the Applicant notwithstanding the latter’s request for anonymity; b. comply with the Constitutive Act of the Union and the Charter; c. not contain any disparaging or insulting language; d. not be based exclusively on news disseminated through the mass media, e. be filed after exhausting local remedies, if any, unless it is obvious that this procedure is unduly prolonged; f. be filed within a reasonable time from the date local remedies were exhausted or from the date set by the Court as being the commencement of the time limit within which it shall be seized with the matter; and g. not raise any mater or issues previously settled by the parties in accordance with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the Constitutive Act of the African Union, the provisions of the Charter or of any legal instrument of the African Union. 30. In the instant case, the Respondent State raises an objection to the admissibility of the Application, based on non-exhaustion of local remedies. The Court will rule on the said objection before considering other aspects of its jurisdiction, if necessary. A. Objection based on non-exhaustion of local remedies 31. The Respondent State submits that the Applicant did not exhaust available local remedies. It submits that she was required to lodge her complaint with the local judicial authorities and that, if her complaint was dismissed at first instance, she could appeal. According to the Respondent State, if the Applicant had seized the judicial authorities, local remedies could have been considered to have been exhausted. 32. The Respondent State asserts that an Act on civil, commercial, social and criminal proceedings has been in force since 2001. According to the Respondent State, the provisions set out therein allow for the exercise of 8

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