AFRICAN COURT ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS Application 013/2015 Robert John Penessis v. United Republic of Tanzania Separate Opinion appended to the Judgment of 28/11/2019 1. I share the opinion of the majority of the Judges as regards the admissibility of the Application and the jurisdiction of the Court. 2. However, in my opinion, the manner in which the Court treated admissibility with regard to the objection raised by the Respondent State on the filing the Application within a reasonable time, runs counter to the provisions of Article 56 of the Charter, Article 6(2) of the Protocol and Rules 39 and 40 of the Rules. 3. Under Article 56 of the Charter and Rule 40 of the Rules in their respective paragraph 6, it is clearly stated that applications must be “submitted 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”. 4. Itis clear from the aforesaid that the legislator laid down two (2) options as to how to determine the starting point of reasonable period: i. the date of exhaustion of local remedies: in the instant case, this date was set by the Court at 04/06/2012 - date of the judgment of the Court of Appeal. Between this date and that of referral of the matter to the Court, there was a time lapse of two (2) years, eight (8) months and twenty-eight (28) days. ii. the date set by the Court as being the commencement of the time limit within which it shall be seized with the matter: it is noteworthy in this regard that although the Court took into account the date of exhaustion of local remedies to determine the reasonableness of the time limit’, the Court nevertheless noted that between 2013 and 1 Paragraph 67 of the Judgment