September 2006. The Court finds, therefore, that the reasonableness of
time for filing, in this case, must be computed from the date on which the
Court of Appeal dismissed the Applicant’s application for review, that is 7
August 2017. It thus holds that the period of six months and 12 days that it
took the Applicant to file this Application is reasonable within the meaning
of Rule 50(2)(f).18
55.
The Court further notes that, in compliance with Rule 50(2)(g) of the Rules,
the Application does not concern a case which has already been settled by
the Parties in accordance with the principle of the Charter of the United
Nations, the Constitutive Act of the African Union, or the provisions of the
Charter.
56.
In view of the foregoing, the Court finds that the Application meets all the
admissibility requirements under Article 56 of the Charter as restated under
Rule 50(2) of the Rules and, therefore, holds that the Application is
admissible.
VII. MERITS
57. The Court considers that this Application essentially raises the allegation of
violation of the Applicant’s right to have his cause heard by an impartial
court or tribunal. This allegation is twofold, namely, (A) the right to have his
cause heard by an impartial court or tribunal, protected by Article 7(1)(d) of
the Charter, and (B) the alleged violation of the right to equality before the
law and to equal protection of the law, guaranteed under Article 3 of the
Charter.
58. Furthermore, the Court notes from the record that the Applicant was
mandatorily sentenced to death by hanging under a law that does not allow
the judicial officer any discretion, which is an issue that had been previously
18 Cf. Sébastien Germain Ajavon v. Republic of Benin, ACtHPR, Application No. 065/2019, Judgment
of 29 March 2021, §§ 86-87.
14