were
lay and
were
without
legal assistance
during their trials before
the
domestic courts.
68. Furthermore, the Court held that the Applicants having had recourse to the
review procedure, were entitled to wait for the decision on their application for
review and that this justified the filing of their Application five (5) years and five
(5) months after exhaustion of local remedies.22
69. In the instant case, the Court notes that the Applicant was incarcerated and as
an incarcerated person, he might have been unaware of the existence of the
Court prior to the filing of the Application. The Court further notes that he did
not have the benefit of legal aid during the appeal
proceedings before the
domestic courts.
70. Furthermore, it is apparent from the record that the Applicant was awaiting the
outcome of his second appeal, which remained pending before the High Court
of Tanzania
from
27
October
2006
until
19
March
2017.
In this respect,
between 2011 and 2013, he did not simply sit back and wait for his matter to
be considered, but rather sent several reminders to various judicial authorities
requesting the finalisation of his appeal. Thus, the Applicant had a legitimate
expectation that his requests would be addressed and his delay in filing his
Application before this Court was justified.
71. The Court therefore holds that the period of four (4) years, nine (9) months and
twenty-three (23) days that the Applicant took to file the Application after the
Respondent State filed the Declaration under Article 34(6) of the Protocol, is
reasonable within the meaning of Article 56(6) of the Charter and Rule 40(6) of
the Rules.
2Werema Wangoko Werema and Another v. United Republic of Tanzania (merits), § 49.
See footnote 17 above
21