25. Concerning its personal jurisdiction, the Court notes that the Respondent
State is a Party to the Protocol and deposited the Declaration prescribed
under Article 34(6) of the Protocol, which enabled the Applicant to file this
Application pursuant to Article 5(3) of the Protocol. Although the
Respondent State, on 21 November 2019, withdrew its Declaration, the
Court recalls that the withdrawal of the Declaration does not have any
retroactive effect, and it also has no bearing on the matters pending prior to
the deposit of the instrument of withdrawal of the Declaration, as is the case
with the present Application.9 Accordingly, the Court finds that it has
personal jurisdiction.
26. With regard to its temporal jurisdiction, the Court notes that the alleged
violations were committed after the Respondent State became a Party to
the Protocol on 10 February 2006. Notably, the Applicant was found guilty
and sentenced to death by the High Court on 21 September 2007 and all
domestic proceedings he complains of took place thereafter. Furthermore,
the Court observes that the Applicant remains convicted on the basis of
what he considers an unfair process. Therefore, it holds that the alleged
violations can be considered to be continuing in nature.10 For these reasons,
the Court finds that it has temporal jurisdiction to examine this Application.
27. As for its territorial jurisdiction, the Court notes that the violations alleged by
the Applicant all happened within the territory of the Respondent State
which is a party to the Protocol. In the circumstances, the Court finds that it
has territorial jurisdiction.
28. In light of all of the above, the Court holds that it has jurisdiction to determine
the present Application.
9
Ingabire Victoire Umuhoza v. Republic of Rwanda (jurisdiction) (3 June 2013) 1 AfCLR 540, § 67;
Laurent Munyadilikirwa v. Republic of Rwanda, ACtHPR, Application No. 023/2015, Ruling of 2
December 2021 (jurisdiction and admissibility), § 10.
10 Norbert Zongo and Others v. Burkina Faso (preliminary objections) (21 June 2013) 1 AfCLR 197, §§
71-77.
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