87. In light of the foregoing, the Court finds that the Respondent State violated the Applicants’ right to be tried within a reasonable time guaranteed in Article 7(1)(d) of the Charter. ii. The right to enforcement of a court decision 88. The Court observes that, although Article 7(1) of the Charter does not expressly set out the right to enforcement of a judicial decision, such a right derives from the requirements of a fair trial. In this regard, the Court refers to principles F(2)(g) and P(f)(5) of the Guidelines and Principles on the Right to a Fair Trial adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, under which the judicial authorities of States parties have an obligation to ensure the supervision of the enforcement of judicial decisions and to avoid unnecessary delays in the enforcement of decisions awarding compensation to victims.14 89. The Court notes that after the dismissal of AGEF’s appeal against the Court of Appeal’s Judgment of 13 July 2007, the said Judgment became enforceable and the Applicants were entitled to claim payment of the sum of Eight Hundred and Twelve Million Four Hundred and Eighty-Eight Thousand (812,488,000) CFA francs. 90. The Court also notes that, owing to the Prosecutor General’s inaction, the Applicants had to wait more than five years for the decision staying execution of the judgment of 13 July 2027 to be quashed in order to initiate proceedings to enforce their claim which proved unsuccessful. The Court considers that this situation contributed to the non-enforcement of the Court of Appeal’s judgment of 13 July 2007 thereby preventing the payment of the compensation obtained by the Applicants against AGEF which, in the meantime, had become insolvent. 14 Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa, 1999. 22

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