of the Applicant and the burden of proof to the contrary lies with the
Respondent State.
122. It is in light of these findings and principles that the Court will consider the
Applicants’ claims for reparation.
A. Material prejudice
123. The Applicants pray the Court to grant them reparation for material damage
as follows: (i) compensation for the loss of customary rights plus statutory
interest; (ii) pecuniary reparation; (iii) costs in respect of domestic
proceedings; (iv) costs of executing court decisions; and (v) experts’ fees.
i.
Compensation for loss of customary rights and statutory interest
124. The Applicants pray the Court to order the Respondent State to pay them
the net sum of Eight Hundred and Twelve Million Four Hundred and EightyEight Thousand (812,488,000) CFA Francs for the loss of customary rights,
which was awarded to them by the Court of Appeal of Abidjan in 2007 and
confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2009.
125. Moreover, the Applicants point out that under Ivorian law, a litigant may
request that interest be applied to a sum of money that has been granted
by court decision or in any other way which the debtor has failed to pay in a
timely manner. The Applicants therefore pray the Court to order the
Respondent State to pay them, in addition to the compensation for loss of
customary rights, the sum of Four Hundred and Twenty-Eight Million NinetyFour Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty-Nine (428,094,789) CFA Francs
being the total amount of default interest calculated on the basis of the
Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) applicable from 2007 to
2020, the date the Applicants filed the present Application.
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