B. Other aspects of jurisdiction
24. The Court notes that other aspects of its jurisdiction are not contested by
the Parties and nothing on the record indicates that it lacks jurisdiction.
Nonetheless, and in line with Rule 49(1) of the Rules, the Court must satisfy
itself that all aspects of its jurisdiction are met.
25. In relation to its personal jurisdiction, the Court recalls that, and as stated in
paragraph 2 of this Judgment, the Respondent State is a party to the Charter
and has deposited the Declaration. The Court further recalls that the
Respondent State deposited the instrument of withdrawal of its Declaration
under Article 34(6) of the Protocol on 21 November 2019. The Court
reiterates that such withdrawal does not apply retroactively and has no
bearing on matters pending before the Court prior to the filing of the
instrument withdrawing the Declaration or new cases filed before the
withdrawal took effect, being a period of one (1) year after the deposit of the
notice of withdrawal; that is, 22 November 2020. This Application having
been filed on 28 July 2016, which was before the Respondent State
deposited its instrument of withdrawal of the Article 34(6) Declaration, is
thus not affected by the withdrawal. The Court’s personal jurisdiction is
therefore established.
26. Concerning its temporal jurisdiction, the Court notes that the final domestic
determination that the Applicants invoke, as the basis of their alleged
violations, is the judgment of the Court of Appeal dated 16 September 2015.
This decision, the Court further notes, was delivered after the Respondent
State had ratified the Charter, and the Protocol. The Court, therefore, has
temporal jurisdiction in this Application.
27. As regards its territorial jurisdiction, the Court holds that it has territorial
jurisdiction as all the alleged violations are said to have occurred in the
territory of the Respondent State.
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