57. The Court notes that the Applicants’ requests seek to protect their rights
guaranteed under the Charter. Furthermore, one of the objectives of the
Constitutive Act of the African Union, as stated in Article 3(h) thereof, is the
promotion and protection of human and peoples’ rights. Besides, there is
nothing on record indicating that the Application is inconsistent with the
Constitutive Act of the African Union. The Court, therefore, finds that the
Application is compatible with the Constitutive Act of the African Union and
the Charter, and consequently meets the requirements of Rule 50(2) (b) of
the Rules.
58. The Court further finds that the Application meets the requirement of Rule
50(2) (d) of the Rules, insofar as it is not based exclusively on news
disseminated through the mass media but rather relates to the legislative
and regulatory provisions of the Respondent State.
59. With respect to the requirement under Rule 50(2)(f) of the Rules, the Court
recalls that it has adopted a case-by-case approach to assessing what
constitutes a reasonable time.20 In this respect, the Court has held that the
time taken for the Applicants to attempt to exhaust the remedies before
domestic courts should be taken into account in determining reasonable
time.21
60. The Court considers that between 5 May 2016, when the Administrative
Division of the Supreme Court handed down Judgment No. 258, and 7
August 2017, the date on which the present Application was filed, a period
of one (1) year, two (2) months and seven (7) days elapsed. In line with its
jurisprudence,22 the Court considers such period as a reasonable time.
20
Norbert Zongo and Others v. Burkina Faso (preliminary objections) (21 June 2013) 1 AfCLR 204, §
121; Alex Thomas v. United Republic of Tanzania (merits) (20 November 2015) 1 AfCLR 465, § 73.
21 Armand Guéhi v. United Republic of Tanzania (merits and reparations) (7 December 2018) 2 AfCLR
477, § 56; Nguza Viking and Johnson Nguza v. United Republic of Tanzania (23 March 2018) (merits)
2 AfCLR 287, § 61.
22 Boubacar Sissoko and 74 Others v. Republic of Mali (merits and reparations) (25 September 2020) 4
AfCLR 641, § 53, Lucien Ikili Rashidi v. United Republic of Tanzania (merits and reparations) (28 March
2019) 3 AfCLR 13, § 56.
15