40. The Court notes that the issue for determination is whether the time it took
the Applicants to file the present Application after exhausting local remedies
is reasonable. The Court further notes that, in this case, local remedies were
exhausted on 3 November 2004 when the Court of Appeal dismissed the
Applicants’ appeal. However, the starting date for time computation should
be 29 March 2010 when the Respondent State deposited the Declaration
as that is when individuals could seise this Court with claims against the
Respondent State.
41. Having said that, the Court observes that the period between 2007 and 2013
were its formative years when members of the general public, let alone
persons in particular situations such as incarceration, could not be
presumed to have had sufficient awareness of the existence of the Court.13
In the present Application, the Applicants are lay persons and were
incarcerated during the above-mentioned initial years of this Court’s
operation. Consequently, the period to be assessed in the instant case is
that from 2014 to the filing of the Application, that is, 1 February 2016, which
is a period of two (2) years and one (1) month. The issue for consideration
is whether such a period of time is reasonable within the meaning of Article
56(6) of the Charter.
42. The Court recalls that in assessing reasonableness, consideration should
be given to the situation of the Applicant, namely whether he was
incarcerated, lay and indigent without the benefit of legal assistance14 or
had limited knowledge of the operation of this Court.15
13
Igola Iguna v. United Republic of Tanzania, ACtHPR, Application No. 020/2017, Judgment of 1
December 2022, § 34; Sadick Marwa Kisase v. United Republic of Tanzania, ACtHPR, Application No.
005/2016, Judgment of 2 December 2021, § 52; Mohamed Abubakari v. United Republic of Tanzania
(merits) (3 June 2016) 1 AfCLR 599, §§ 91-93; Zongo and Others v. Burkina Faso (preliminary
objections), supra, § 122.
14 Iguna v. Tanzania, supra, § 35; Thomas v. Tanzania, supra, § 73; Christopher Jonas v. United
Republic of Tanzania (merits) (28 September 2017) 2 AfCLR 101, § 54; Amir Ramadhani v. United
Republic of Tanzania (merits) (11 May 2018) 2 AfCLR 344, § 83.
15 Iguna v. Tanzania, ibid; Mohamed Selemani Marwa v. United Republic of Tanzania, ACtHPR,
Application No. 014/2016, Judgment of 2 December 2021, § 61; Amiri Ramadhani v. United Republic of
Tanzania (merits) (11 May 2018) 2 AfCLR 344, § 83.
12