~:HP~\ACH PR ) OHnr.( ~ African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights Human Rights our Collective Responsibility 18. On 17thOctober 2013 the Secretariat received the Complainant's submissions on the merits which it acknowledged and transmitted by courier to the Respondent State on 21st December 2013 with a request for the latter to present its written observations on the merits within 60 days of notification. 19. After the 60 days for filing of the Respondent's written submissions had elapsed without the Respondent State presenting any arguments on the merits, the Commission adopted a default decision on merits at its 17th Extra-Ordinary Session held in Banjul, the Gambia from 19thto 28th February 2015. 20. On 2ndand 4thMarch 2015, the Commission informed both parties of the adoption of the decision based on the submissions before it at the time. However, the text of the decision was not transmitted to the parties' pending authorisation of publication under the 38th Activity Report of the Commission by the African Union (AU) Executive Council and AU Assembly. 21. During the 56th Ordinary Session of the Commission held from 21st April to 7th May 2015, before the 38th Activity Report of the Commission was presented to the AU policy organs, the Respondent State submitted a request via Note Verbale N° 4-1/4/67/15 dated 6th and 7th May 2015 for a reconsideration of the Commission's default decision on the ground that it had not been afforded a fair hearing. 22. Upon receipt of the Respondent's request, the Commission withdrew the merit decision from its 38th Activity Report to the AU policy organs to allow for a consideration of the Respondent's application. 23. After a review of its internal processes, the Commission found that while there was some evidence suggesting that a Note Verbale N° ACHP/419/12/ETH/1418/13 transmitting the Complainant's merits submissions to the Respondent State and inviting the latter to submit its observations on the merits had been shipped to the Respondent State by DHL courier on 21stDecember 2013, there was no proof of delivery of the parcel to the latter.