29. The Court underscores that the local remedies to be exhausted are those
of a judicial nature. They must be available, in the sense that they can be
used without hindrance by the Applicant, and effective in the sense that they
are “capable of giving satisfaction to the Applicant or of remedying the
situation in dispute”.5
30. The Court underlines that it is not enough for an Applicant to cast doubt on
the availability or effectiveness of local remedies. Rather, it is up to him to
take all necessary steps to exhaust, or at least attempt to exhaust, local
remedies.6
31. In the instant case, the Court notes from the record, that the violations
alleged by the Applicant result, from the Suspension Order of 28 July 2017
and the Dismissal Decree of 2 August 2017, as well as from the criminal
proceedings initiated against him before the CRIET. The Court will
determine whether local remedies were exhausted with regard to these two
aspects.
32. With regard to the Suspension Order and the Dismissal Decree, the Court
observes, in light of the Respondent State’s laws, that Article 827 of the
Code of Civil Procedure7 governs cases brought before the Administrative
Chamber of the Supreme Court for annulment on grounds of abuse of power
by administrative authorities.8 It follows that actions seeking annulment of
the Suspension Order of 28 July 2017 and the Dismissal Decree of 2 August
Norbert Zongo and Others ’v. Burkina Faso (merits) (5 December 2014) 1 AfCLR 226, § 68; Konaté v.
Burkina Faso (merits), supra, §108.
6 Noudehouenou v. Benin (jurisdiction and admissibility), supra, §40.
7 Law No. 2008-07 of February 28, 2011, Article 827: "The time limit for appealing on grounds of ultra
vires is two (2) months. This period runs from the date of publication or notification of the contested
decision. Before appealing against an individual decision, the applicant must submit a hierarchical or
gracious appeal to have the said decision rescinded. If the competent authority remains silent for more
than two (2) months, the application is deemed to have been rejected. The applicant has a period of two
(2) months from the date of expiry of the above-mentioned two (2) months to appeal against this implicit
decision. However, if an explicit rejection decision is made within this two (2) month period, the time limit
for appeal starts running again. The time limits for lodging appeals do not start to run until the day of
notification of the decision rejecting the appeal or the expiry of the two (2)-month period referred to in
the previous paragraph. In tax matters, the applicable time limits are set by the General Tax Code and
the tax laws in force".
8 Ibid, Article 818 paragraph 1: "The court ruling on administrative matters is competent to hear disputes
concerning all acts emanating from all administrative authorities within its jurisdiction"
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