44.|n 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
because of its relatively recent establishment; are all circumstances that
justified
some flexibility in assessing the reasonableness of the timeline
for seizure of the Court. "
45. Furthermore, in Alex Thomas v Tanzania, the Court justified its position as
follows:
Considering the Applicant's situation, that he is a lay, indigent,incarcerated
person, compounded by the delay in providing him with Court records, and
his attempt to use extraordinary measures, that is,the Application for review
of the Court of Appeal’s decision, we find that these constitute sufficient
grounds
to explain
August
2013,
why
being
he
filed
three
(3)
theApplication
yearsand
five
before
(5)
this Court
months
on
after
2
the
Respondent made the declaration under Article 34(6) of the Protocol. For
these reasons, the Court finds that theApplication has been filed within a
reasonable time after the exhaustionof local remedies as envisaged by
Article 56(5) of the Charter.’?
46. It is also clear from the Court's case-law that the Court declared admissible
an application brought before it three (3) years and six (6) months after the
Respondent
Protocol
State
accepting
deposited
the
the
Court's
Declaration
jurisdiction,
under
having
Article 34(6)
concluded
of the
that:
“the
period between the date of its referral of the present case, 8 October 2013,
and the date of the filing by the Respondent
recognition
of the Court's jurisdiction
11 Mohamed Abubakari v. Tanzania (merits) op.cit, § 92.
12 Alex Thomas v. Tanzania op.cit, § 74.
13
to hear
State of the Declaration
individual
applications,
of
29