Fousseyni Diarra et al. vs Republic of Mali
On February 20th, 2018, Misters Fousseyni Diarra and some of his colleagues (together the Applicants) have filed an application instituting proceedings against the Republic of Mali (the defendant State) before the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights (the ACHPR or the Court) for alleged violatons of the African Charter of the Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Charter) in its articles 7 and 26.
The applicants allege that they were employed by ANALABS Mali SARL, which was required to take blood samples for its employees to test the level of lead in the body. Testing was not carried out regularly and some of the applicants began to feel unwell. Following their dismissal on January 29th, 2009 for economic reasons without care, without medical assistance in violation of all the legal and regulatory provisions provided for by the collective agreement of the mines. The applicants won their case before the national courts, which had ordered the company ANALABS Mali SARL to carry out the necessary tests under penalty of XAF 200,000 per day. The applicants requested payment of the penalty payment. An order for the liquidation of penalty payments was first issued before being overturned before the Social Chamber of the Kayes Court of Appeal on August 26th, 2013.
Mali raised objections regarding to jurisdiction and inadmissibility of the application. After examining the pleas in law, the Court held that it had jurisdiction to hear the case. With regard to admissibility, it examined in turn all the criteria listed in Rule 50 of the Rules of Court and concluded that the application was inadmissible to the extent that domestic remedies had not been exhausted.
This summary is provided for informational purposes only, does not involve the responsibility of Dome and should in no way be used as a substitute for a careful reading of the judgment and order of the case.
