31. The Respondent State further submits that nothing prevents the Applicant from bringing an action for liability before the administrative or judicial courts, if he considers that the judicial service malfunctioned to his detriment. 32. Lastly, the Respondent State submits that up to the time of filing the present Application, the Applicant had not made any request for parole, pardon or amnesty. 33. In reply, the Applicant submits that the objection should be dismissed. In support, he argues that in the judicial system of the Respondent State, the cassation appeal is not an effective remedy. He further submits that a period of approximately five years elapsed between the filing of his cassation appeal and the filing of the present Application, which is unduly long. 34. He further points out that the rule of exhaustion of local remedies is subject to very broad interpretation. In this regard, he cites the case of De Wilde, Ooms and Versyp v. Belgium, in which the European Court of Human Rights decided on 18 June 1971 that “there is nothing to prevent States from waiving the benefit of the rule of exhaustion of domestic remedies”. *** 35. The Court notes that, in accordance with Article 56(5) of the Charter and Rule 50(2) (e) of the Rules, applications must be filed after exhaustion of local remedies if any, unless it is clear that the proceedings in respect of such remedies are unduly prolonged.5 36. The Court underscores that the local remedies to be exhausted are ordinary judicial remedies. These must be available, that is, they can be used without hindrance by the Applicant, effective and sufficient, in the sense that they 5 Ghaby Kodeih and Nabih Kodeih Republic of Benin, ACtHPR, Application No. 008/2020, Judgment of 23 June 2022 (jurisdiction and admissibility), § 49; Houngue Éric Noudehouenou v. Republic of Benin, ACtHPR, Application No. 032/2020, Judgment of 22 September 2022 (jurisdiction and admissibility), § 38. 8

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