John Martin Marwa vs United Republic of Tanzania
On July 4th, 2017, Mr. John Martin Marwa (the Applicant), filed an application instituting proceedings against the United Republic of Tanzania (the defendant State) before the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights (the ACHPR or the Court) for alleged violations of the African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Charter) in its articles 2, 3 and 7.
The applicant had been arrested and tried for raping an 18-year-old girl when he was her teacher. He was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment by the Nzega District Court on April 13th, 2006. This decision was confirmed by the appeal courts successively on December 14th, 2007 and June 22nd, 2011. At the time of the institution of the present proceedings, the applicant was being held in Uyui Central Prison.
On November 21st, 2019, the Republic of Tanzania deposited the instruments of withdrawal of the Court’s declaration of jurisdiction to receive applications from individuals and non-governmental organizations. In issuing its decision on September 22nd, 2022, the Court has been faithful to its consistent jurisprudence of dealing with all cases enrolled in the Registry before the date of entry into force of the withdrawal of the declaration.
Tanzania did not submit a response to the initial brief. The Court delivered its judgment in absentia, in accordance with Article 63. (1) of its Rules. While it found that it did have jurisdiction to hear the case, the application was not admissible because it had not been filed within a reasonable time.
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.
