Results.
476 judgments found.
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| September 2023 |
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Failure to provide free legal assistance to indigent defendants charged with serious offences violated their fair-trial rights; moral damages awarded.
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Human rights — Fair trial
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— Right to free legal assistance — Obligation to provide counsel to indigent accused in serious cases — Article 7(1)(c) African Charter; Article 14(3)(d) ICCPR
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— Evidence and identification — Deference to domestic courts’ assessment of visual identification and alibi defences
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Human rights — Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies and reasonable time — incarcerated, self-represented applicants
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5 September 2023 |
| August 2023 |
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A non‑neutral applicant cannot act as amicus and failed to show sufficient interest to intervene, so intervention was dismissed.
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Procedure
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— Intervention — Admissibility and interest to intervene under Rule 61 — Requirement to demonstrate purpose and legal interest
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— Amicus curiae — Neutrality requirement — Amicus must be independent and merely express an opinion
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Judicial administration — Avoidance of conflicting judgments — Potential inconsistency is not alone a basis for intervention
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30 August 2023 |
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Court ordered access to chosen lawyers and doctors and disclosure of detention grounds, but refused detainees' immediate release.
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Human rights
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— Provisional measures — Access to counsel and medical care — Urgency, extreme gravity and irreparable harm — Article 27(2) Protocol
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— Detention — Right to be informed of reasons for arrest — State obligation to furnish legal and factual particulars
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Court jurisdiction — Prima facie jurisdiction — Article 3 Protocol and Article 34(6) declaration
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28 August 2023 |
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Court authorised formal renaming of applicant as individuals, finding the change procedural and not affecting the merits.
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Procedure — Amendment of application title — Inherent power under Article 33 of the Protocol and Rule 90 of the Rules — Form versus substance
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Judges — Recusal/Non-participation — Judge who is national of Respondent State did not hear the application
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23 August 2023 |
| July 2023 |
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Unsubstantiated request for provisional measures dismissed for failure to show extreme gravity, urgency, or irreparable harm.
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Human rights — Provisional measures — Requirement of extreme gravity, urgency and risk of irreparable harm — Article 27(2) Protocol
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Jurisdiction — Prima facie jurisdiction — Effect of withdrawal of Article 34(6) Declaration — Withdrawal not retroactive and does not affect applications filed before it takes effect
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26 July 2023 |
| June 2023 |
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An executive Order refusing official documents to ‘wanted’ persons breaches the presumption of innocence and the right to nationality.
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Human rights
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— Jurisdiction and admissibility — Effect of State withdrawal of Article 34(6) Declaration and exhaustion of domestic remedies — Constitutional Court decision as binding remedy
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— Presumption of innocence — Administrative measures restricting issuance of official documents to "wanted" persons — Executive encroachment on judicial powers; public listing implying guilt
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— Right to nationality — Proof of nationality and access to identity documents — Arbitrary deprivation, lack of legal basis, disproportionality and risk of statelessness
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13 June 2023 |
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Failure to provide free legal aid and consular notification violated the applicant's fair-trial rights; evidentiary complaints dismissed.
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Human Rights
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— Fair trial — Right to defence and free legal assistance — Article 7(1)(c) African Charter; Article 14(3)(d) ICCPR
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— Consular assistance — Obligation to inform and facilitate consular contact — Article 36(1) Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
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Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies and reasonable time — Domestic appeals as exhaustion; nine-month filing period held reasonable
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13 June 2023 |
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Conviction in absentia upheld where domestic proceedings complied with fair‑trial standards and local remedies were exhausted.
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Human rights
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— Fair trial — Conviction in absentia and right to be heard — Article 7(1)(c); compliance with Criminal Procedure Act s.226
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— Evidence — Hearsay, corroboration and voir dire — capacity of child witness under Evidence Act s.127
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Jurisdiction — Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies and non‑retroactivity of withdrawal of Article 34(6) declaration
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13 June 2023 |
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Mandatory statutory bars to bail violate non‑discrimination, presumption of innocence and the right to be heard.
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Human rights
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— Criminal procedure — Bail — Mandatory statutory bar depriving judicial discretion and individual consideration
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— Fair trial — Presumption of innocence — Blanket denial of bail pre‑judges accused persons
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International obligations — Implementation — Article 1 ACHPR — Duty to align domestic legislation with Charter rights
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13 June 2023 |
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Applicant challenged conviction by single visual identification and filing delay; Court found no violation.
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Human rights
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— Jurisdiction — Court may assess compliance of domestic proceedings with international human‑rights standards without exercising appellate jurisdiction
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— Admissibility — Reasonable time — Consideration of imprisonment, indigence, self‑representation and early Court awareness
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Criminal procedure — Fair trial — Visual identification evidence — Domestic courts’ assessment and manifest‑error threshold
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13 June 2023 |
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Applicant's claims of unfair confession, delay and denial of counsel rejected; Court finds no Article 7 violations and dismisses reparations.
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Human rights — Fair trial
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— Admission of extra‑judicial confession — Voluntariness, corroboration and trial‑within‑a‑trial procedures — Article 7(1)
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— Right to defence — Right to counsel of choice and availability of state‑provided counsel in serious criminal cases
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Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies and reasonable time — Case‑by‑case assessment, effect of incarceration and Court’s formative years
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13 June 2023 |
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Failure to provide free legal assistance violated the applicant’s fair-trial rights; compensation awarded but conviction upheld.
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Human rights — Criminal procedure — Right to free legal assistance/counsel — Obligation to provide legal aid at trial and on appeal (Article 7(1)(c) Charter; ICCPR Art.14(3)(d))
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Admissibility — Exhaustion and timeliness — Requirement satisfied where appeals to highest domestic court exhausted and application filed within reasonable time (six months)
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13 June 2023 |
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Whether contested identification and sentence‑substitution in domestic proceedings violated Article 3 equality rights.
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Human rights — Jurisdiction — Material, personal, temporal and territorial jurisdiction of the Court to examine domestic criminal convictions — Effect of State's withdrawal of Article 34(6) declaration
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Procedure — Admissibility — Reasonable time to file after exhaustion of local remedies — Effect of applicants' incarceration and Court's formative years on timeliness
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Criminal procedure/Fair trial — Evidence and sentencing — Alleged burden‑shifting, visual identification and substitution of sentence; assessment against Article 3 equality before the law
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13 June 2023 |
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Statutory absence of qualifications for key electoral officials violated the right to participate; some civil‑service appointments otherwise permissible.
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Electoral law
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— Appointment of electoral officials — Qualification criteria for Director of Elections — Independence and right to participate (Article 13(1))
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— Returning officers — Appointment from public service without specified positions or qualifications — Excessive discretion and incompatibility with Article 13(1)
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Procedure — Admissibility — Exhaustion of domestic remedies and bundle of rights — Failure to plead section 4(1) domestically renders that challenge inadmissible
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13 June 2023 |
| May 2023 |
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Court ordered joinder of two applications against the same State alleging violations of Articles 2, 3 and 7.
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Human rights
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— Procedural law — Joinder of cases — Exercise of discretion under Rule 62 of the Rules of Court — Judicial economy and proper administration of justice
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— Substantive allegations — Alleged violations of Articles 2, 3 and 7 of the African Charter — Consolidation appropriate where common issues and remedies overlap
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22 May 2023 |
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The Court ordered consolidation of two similar Applications against the same State to promote judicial economy and proper administration of justice.
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Procedural law — Joinder of cases — Whether Rule 62 permits joinder for proper administration of justice and judicial economy — African Court Rules
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21 May 2023 |
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Whether two co-accused's separate applications against the same State should be joined to promote judicial economy.
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Procedural law — Joinder of cases — Court’s power under Rule 62 to join applications where same cause of action, same respondent and judicial economy justify consolidation
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21 May 2023 |
| March 2023 |
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A person who has given an ad litem mandate to the applicant cannot intervene as a third party; intervention inadmissible.
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Court procedure — Intervention — Whether a person who granted an ad litem mandate to the applicant may intervene — Rule 61(2)-(6) Rules of Court
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30 March 2023 |
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Applicant's requests to suspend an electoral decree and postpone elections dismissed for lack of urgency and mootness.
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Human rights — Provisional measures — Urgency, extreme gravity and irreparable harm — Article 27(2) Protocol
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Electoral law — Elections — Postponement — Mootness where application filed after the election
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17 March 2023 |
| February 2023 |
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Court reopened pleadings and allowed applicant 45 days to reply, deeming the respondent's late response properly filed.
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Procedure
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— Pleadings — Reopening pleadings and permitting a Reply under Rules 46(3) and 44(2)
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— Late filing — Deeming an out‑of‑time Response properly filed in the interest of justice — Inherent power under Rule 90
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24 February 2023 |
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The Court ordered a stay of execution pending determination of alleged trial irregularities and potential Charter violations.
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Provisional measures; stay of execution; Article 27(2) Protocol; Rule 51 Rules of Court; prima facie jurisdiction; extreme gravity/urgency; risk of irreparable harm; Articles 3(2) and 7(1)(c) African Charter; reporting obligation (60 days).
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11 February 2023 |
| January 2023 |
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Court reopened pleadings and ordered the applicant to file a Reply within 45 days under Rules 44(2), 46(3) and Rule 90.
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Procedure — Pleadings
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— Reopening pleadings — Court's discretion under Rule 46(3) — Rules of Court
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— Applicant’s right to file a Reply after Respondent’s Response — Rule 44(2) — Forty‑five day time limit
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Procedure — Inherent powers — Adoption of procedures to meet ends of justice — Rule 90
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9 January 2023 |
| December 2022 |
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Election-related measures moot; Executive Council not amenable to provisional measures; detention-suspension request rejected.
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Human rights — Provisional measures — Prima facie jurisdiction to entertain requests under the Protocol
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Provisional measures — Mootness — Election-related requests rendered moot by occurrence of contested event
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International procedure — Non-parties/Organs — Executive Council not amenable to provisional measures as it is not a party to the Protocol
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21 December 2022 |
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Applicant failed to show urgency and a direct link to justify suspending the parliamentary elections.
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Human rights
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— Jurisdiction — Prima facie jurisdiction to order provisional measures under the Protocol and Article 34(6) Declaration — African Charter
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— Provisional measures — Suspension of elections — Requirement of extreme gravity, urgency, irreparable harm and a direct connection between alleged violations and the measures sought — Protocol art.27(2)
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16 December 2022 |
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Court dismissed applicant's requests to suspend elections, annul results, and compel the President's medical examination.
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Human rights — Provisional measures
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— Stay of national parliamentary elections — Requirement of prima facie jurisdiction, urgency, gravity and demonstrable risk of irreparable harm
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— Measures affecting future acts and electoral results — Court should not prejudge the merits by annulling prospective parliamentary acts
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— Medical examination of Head of State — Intrusive measures require evidentiary foundation
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16 December 2022 |
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Application dismissed as inadmissible for failure to exhaust newly available domestic remedies.
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Human rights — Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies — Availability and effectiveness of domestic remedies after legislative amendment
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Labour law — Enforcement of arbitral awards in collective disputes — Judicial review and enforcement procedure provided by amendment to Labour Code (Law No. 021-2017)
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1 December 2022 |
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Application alleging unlawful pre-trial detention and separation-of-powers violations dismissed for failure to exhaust local remedies.
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Human rights — Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies — Article 56 African Charter — Application premature
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Criminal procedure — Pre-trial detention — Power of public prosecutor to issue detention order — Separation of prosecutorial and judicial functions
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1 December 2022 |
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Application for review dismissed as inadmissible for lack of newly discovered decisive facts; Court retained jurisdiction.
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Human rights
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— Review of judgment — New facts or evidence requirement — Rule 78(1) of the Rules — Finality of judgments
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— Jurisdiction — Effect of withdrawal of Article 34(6) declaration — Protection of pending cases and review applications
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— Admissibility — Time‑limits for review applications — Six‑month and five‑year thresholds
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1 December 2022 |
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Applicant's challenges to identification evidence and alleged discriminatory assessment failed to establish violations of Articles 7 and 2.
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Human rights
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— Fair trial — Evaluation of identification evidence — Article 7(1) African Charter
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— Non‑discrimination — Assessment of evidence — Article 2 African Charter
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Procedure — Admissibility — Reasonable time to file given incarceration and limited awareness of Court
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1 December 2022 |
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Application alleging fair-trial violations dismissed as inadmissible for unreasonable delay despite Court’s jurisdiction.
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Human rights — Fair trial — Admissibility — Reasonable time to seize the Court after exhaustion of domestic remedies
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Jurisdiction — Material and temporal — Court may examine domestic proceedings for compliance with Charter standards without acting as an appellate court
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Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies — Ordinary remedies to the highest domestic court suffice; extraordinary review not mandatory
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1 December 2022 |
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Mandatory death penalty violates the right to life; undue delays and death‑row detention breach fair trial and prohibition of degrading treatment.
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Human rights — Right to life — Mandatory death penalty — Removal of judicial discretion — African Charter Article 4
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Criminal procedure — Fair trial — Right to be tried within reasonable time — Undue pre-trial delay — African Charter Article 7(1)(d)
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Human rights — Prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment — Death‑row phenomenon and prolonged pre‑trial detention — African Charter Article 5
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1 December 2022 |
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Admissibility of challenge to exclusion of pregnant schoolgirls where ACERWC already decided similar claims.
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Human rights
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— Admissibility — Application settled by prior ACERWC decision — Article 56(7) African Charter
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— Education & non-discrimination — Exclusion of pregnant and parenting schoolgirls — Overlap of ACERWC findings and African Court jurisdiction
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1 December 2022 |
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Mandatory death penalty and hanging violate the applicant’s rights; unreasonable pre-trial delay found.
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Human rights — Death penalty — Mandatory death sentence — Arbitrary deprivation of the right to life (Article 4)Human rights — Right to dignity — Execution by hanging and prolonged detention on death row — Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (Article 5)Human rights — Fair trial — Unreasonable pre-trial delay — Violation of right to be tried within a reasonable time (Article 7(1)(d))
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1 December 2022 |
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Executive control of the High Judicial Council breached judicial independence; Penal provision unduly restricted criticism of courts; State failed to execute Court rulings.
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Human rights
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— Judicial independence — Composition and appointment procedures of judicial council — Excessive executive control violates Article 26 of the African Charter
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— Freedom of expression — Criminal restriction on criticism of judicial decisions — Limiting technical comments to specialised journals unlawful under Article 9(2) of the Charter and Article 19 ICCPR
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Procedural law — Compliance with Court judgments — State’s non-execution of Court rulings — Breach of Article 30 of the Protocol
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1 December 2022 |
| September 2022 |
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An application contesting a conviction in absentia was dismissed as inadmissible for failure to exhaust domestic cassation remedies.
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Human rights — Jurisdiction — Individual access under Article 34(6) Declaration — Court's material, personal, temporal and territorial jurisdiction
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Procedure — Default judgment — Rule 63(1) — Conditions for entering judgment in default (service, default, Court's motion)
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Human rights — Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies — Pendency of cassation appeal does not necessarily amount to undue prolongation
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22 September 2022 |
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Court found 2021 presidential decrees violated right to be heard and political participation; ordered repeal and Constitutional Court operationalisation.
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Human rights
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— Jurisdiction — Competence of the African Court over domestic constitutional measures — State consent through Protocol and Article 34(6) Declaration
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— Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies — Remedy unavailable where Constitutional Court exists only in law and is not operational
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Constitutional law — Political rights — Suspension of parliamentary powers and presidential decrees — Right to be heard and to participate in public affairs — Proportionality and procedural compliance
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22 September 2022 |
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Application dismissed as inadmissible for failure to exhaust the available cassation remedy.
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Human rights
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— Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies — Availability and effectiveness of cassation remedy — African Charter Art.56(5) and Rule 50(2)(e)
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— Jurisdiction — Individual access under Article 34(6) declaration — Material, personal, temporal and territorial jurisdiction
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22 September 2022 |
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Application alleging fair-trial violations dismissed for failure to exhaust the cassation remedy; Court affirmed jurisdiction.
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Human rights
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— Fair trial — Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies: requirement to lodge cassation appeal before international application
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— Jurisdiction — Material jurisdiction — Court’s competence to entertain applications alleging Charter violations notwithstanding requests implicating pardon, commutation or parole
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22 September 2022 |
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Applicant’s claims inadmissible for undue delay in filing after exhaustion of domestic remedies.
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Human rights — Fair trial and equality — Right to legal representation and having one’s cause heard — Admissibility considerations
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Civil procedure — Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies and reasonable time to file — Article 56(5)-(6) African Charter
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22 September 2022 |
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Failure to inform of bail and to provide free legal aid breached fair trial rights; TZS 600,000 awarded for moral prejudice.
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Human rights — Fair trial guarantees — Right to be informed of right to bail; Right to free legal assistance for indigent accused of serious offences; Admissibility — reasonable time to file after exhaustion of domestic remedies; Jurisdiction to review compliance of domestic criminal proceedings with Charter standards; Juvenile status and trial venue; Reparations — moral damages awarded, material damages and indirect victims' claims dismissed.
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22 September 2022 |
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Court found violations for obstruction of monitoring, lack of authentication on some collation sheets, and failure to provide candidate protection.
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Human rights — Elections — Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies and use of disparaging language
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Constitutional law — Judicial independence — Composition and appointment — Appearance of bias versus evidentiary proof
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Elections law — Transparency and credibility — Authentication of collation sheets (hologram/sticker) — ECOWAS Democracy Protocol Article 6
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22 September 2022 |
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Court asserted jurisdiction but dismissed the application for failure to exhaust local remedies; each party bears its own costs.
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Human rights
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— Jurisdiction — Material jurisdiction to assess compliance of domestic proceedings with the African Charter despite not being an appellate court
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— Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies — Failure to pursue available domestic judicial remedies renders application inadmissible
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22 September 2022 |
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Application declared inadmissible for being filed outside a reasonable time despite exhausted domestic appeals.
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Human rights — Admissibility
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— Filing within a reasonable time — Article 56(6) African Charter and Rule 50(2)(f) of the Rules — Delay without compelling justification renders application inadmissible
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— Exhaustion of local remedies — Appeals to High Court and Court of Appeal suffice; extraordinary remedies not required
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Human rights — Jurisdiction — Temporal and personal jurisdiction — Declaration under Article 34(6) and non-retroactivity; withdrawal does not affect pending cases
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22 September 2022 |
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Alleged fair‑trial procedural errors (conviction/sentencing, child evidence, exhibits, witnesses) were not established and were dismissed.
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Human rights — Fair trial — Right to have one’s cause heard — Alleged procedural errors relating to conviction, sentencing and witnesses — Assessment of domestic courts' findings and admissibility of child evidence
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Evidence — Admissibility — Child witness unsworn evidence under statutory provision — Court’s recorded opinion and corroboration
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Human rights — Remedies — Jurisdiction and admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies and reasonable time filing
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22 September 2022 |
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Application dismissed as inadmissible for being filed outside a reasonable time after domestic remedies were exhausted.
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Human rights — Admissibility — Reasonable time to seize the Court — Article 56(6) African Charter — Six‑year delay unjustified
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Procedure — Default — State’s failure to respond — Ruling in default suo motu under Rules of Court (Rule 63)
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Jurisdiction — Effect of withdrawal of Article 34(6) Declaration — No retroactive effect on pending applications
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22 September 2022 |
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Whether African States breached obligations to protect Sahrawi self-determination by facilitating Morocco’s AU admission.
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African human-rights jurisdiction; admissibility (identity, media-sourced evidence, exhaustion, reasonable time); actio popularis standing; extraterritorial scope of self-determination (erga omnes); limits on Court’s power to interpret AU Constitutive Act; AU Assembly admission decisions not automatically imputable to Member States; no State responsibility without attribution and causation.
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22 September 2022 |
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Whether the applicant's retrenchment and domestic litigation breached his rights to work, fair trial, and equality.
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Human rights
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— Right to work — Retrenchment and employment status following corporatisation of public services — Article 15 African Charter
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— Fair trial — Impartiality, reasonable time and assessment of evidence in domestic proceedings — Article 7 African Charter
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— Equality and non‑discrimination — Differential statutory treatment of commissioners and staff after institutional transfer — Articles 3 and 2 African Charter
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22 September 2022 |
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Application inadmissible for failure to exhaust cassation remedy; Court retains jurisdiction to assess conformity with human rights instruments.
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Human rights — Jurisdiction — Review of domestic criminal proceedings for compliance with the African Charter and other ratified instruments
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Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies — Effectiveness of cassation and assessment of undue delay
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22 September 2022 |
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Application dismissed as inadmissible for failure to exhaust available domestic appeal remedies.
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Human rights — Property rights — Applicability of Article 14 of the African Charter — Ownership dispute before domestic courts
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Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies — Availability, effectiveness and satisfactory nature of civil appeal under domestic law
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Procedure — Notification and adversarial judgment — Effect of legal representation and notice on appeal periods
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22 September 2022 |
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Application dismissed as inadmissible for failure to exhaust available domestic remedies before filing.
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Human rights
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— Admissibility — Exhaustion of local remedies — Applicants must exhaust available, effective domestic remedies before filing — Principle of anteriority (assessment at filing date)
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— Jurisdiction — Personal, material, temporal and territorial jurisdiction — Court satisfied it had jurisdiction to entertain the matter
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22 September 2022 |