Renders this Judgment, I. THE PARTIES 1. Messrs Youssouf TRAORE, Diakaridia COULIBALY, Mery SIDIBE, Diatigui Coulibaly, Karim DIARRA, Mamadou KAMATE, Diasse COULIBALY, Boubacar DEMBELE, Issiaka KONE, Landry DAKOUA (hereinafter referred to as “the Applicants”), Malian nationals, are all former workers of the LASMali and ETS KLENE Laboratories group. They allege violation of their right to a fair trial in the proceedings before national courts. 2. The Application is filed against the Republic of Mali (hereinafter referred to as “the Respondent State”) which became a Party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (hereinafter referred to as the “Charter”) on 21 October 1986 and to the Protocol on 20 June 2000. It also deposited on 19 February 2010, the Declaration provided for in Article 34(6) of the Protocol by virtue of which it accepts the jurisdiction of the Court to receive applications from individuals and non-governmental organisations having observer status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. II. SUBJECT OF THE APPLICATION A. Facts of the matter 3. It emerges from the Application that between 2004 and 2009, the Applicants were recruited by the ALS-Mali laboratory group under a fixed-term contract. The purpose of the said contract was the taking of rock and soil samples in the mining areas, their placement, classification and mechanical preparation for the purposes of chemical analysis in the laboratory. 2