B. Other aspects of jurisdiction
27. The Court observes that no objection has been raised with respect to its
personal, temporal and territorial jurisdiction. Nonetheless, in line with Rule
49(1) of the Rules, it must satisfy itself that all aspects of its jurisdiction are
fulfilled before proceeding.
28. In relation to its personal jurisdiction, the Court recalls, as stated in
paragraph 2 of this judgment that, on 21 November 2019, the Respondent
State deposited with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission an
instrument withdrawing its Declaration made under Article 34(6) of the
Protocol. The Court further recalls that it has held that the withdrawal of a
Declaration does not have any retroactive effect and it also has no bearing
on matters pending prior to the filing of the instrument withdrawing the
Declaration, or new cases filed before the withdrawal takes effect.11 Since
any such withdrawal of the Declaration takes effect twelve (12) months after
the notice of withdrawal is deposited, the effective date for the Respondent
State’s withdrawal was 22 November 2020.12 This Application, having been
filed before the Respondent State deposited its notice of withdrawal, is thus
not affected by it. The Court, therefore, finds that it has personal jurisdiction
to examine the present Application.
29. In respect of its temporal jurisdiction, the Court notes that the violations
alleged by the Applicant arose after the Respondent State became a Party
to the Charter and the Protocol. 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.13 For these reasons, the Court finds that it has
temporal jurisdiction to examine this Application.
11
Cheusi v. Tanzania (judgment), supra, §§ 35-39.
Ingabire Victoire Umuhoza v. United Republic of Rwanda (jurisdiction) (3 June 2016) 1 AfCLR 562, §
67.
13 Beneficiaries of late Norbert Zongo, Abdoulaye Nikiema alias Ablasse, Ernest Zongo, Blaise Ilboudo
and Mouvement Burkinabe des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples v. Burkina Faso (preliminary
objections) (21 June 2013) 1 AfCLR 197, §§ 71-77.
12
10