000 825
47.
The Respondent State argues that eleven (11) months elapsed between the
decision of the Court of Appeal (24 February 2015) and the date the Court was
seized (8 March 2016), thus exceeding the period of six (6) months that is
considered reasonable, whereas nothing prevented the Applicant from filing his
Application earlier.
48.
In his Reply, the Applicant refutes the Respondent State's submission that the
deadline for filing an appeal before the Court is six months after exhaustion of
local remedies, claiming that reasonableness of a deadline depends on the
circumstances of each case. ln this regard, the Applicant quotes the Court's
ruling in Application 01312011 - Beneficiaries of Late Norbert Zongo and Others
v Burkina Faso.
***
49.
The Court is of the opinion thatthe question that arises atthis juncture is whether
the period that elapsed between the exhaustion of local remedies and the time
within which the Applicant seized the Court, is reasonable within the meaning of
Rule 40(6) of the Rules.
50. The Court notes that local remedies were exhausted on 24 February 2015, the
date of the Court of Appeal's decision, and that the Application was filed at the
Registry on 8 March 2016. One (1) year and thirteen (13) days had elapsed
between the Court of Appeal decision and the filing of the Application with the
Registry of the Court.
51
ln the matter of the Beneficiaries of late Nohert Zongo and Others v. Burkina
Faso, the Court established the principle that "... the reasonableness of the
timeline for referrals to it depends on the circumstances of each case and must
be assessed on case-by-case basis."7
7 Application No. 013/2011. Ruling
on preliminaries objections ot 21106t2013, Beneficiaries of tate
Nobert Zongo and Others v. Burkina Faso, para. 121. See also Application No. 005/201 3, Alex Thomas
v. Tanzania Judgment, op. cit., para.T3; Application No. 007/20'13, Judgment of 3/6/2013, Mohamed
Abubakari v. Tanzania Judgmenl op. cit., para. g1; Application No. 01 1/201
Christopher Jonas v
Tanzania Judgment, op. cit., para. 52.
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