App. 011/2019_ Yusuph Said vs Tanzania
Yusuph Said vs United Republic of Tanzania
On March 22nd, 2019, Mr. Yusuph Said, applicant, filed with the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Court) an application instituting proceedings before the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Charter) in its Articles 3(1) (2) and 7(1).
Mr. Said, a Tanzanian national, was incarcerated in Butimba Central Prison at the time of the commencement of the proceedings. He had been sentenced to death for a murder committed in October 2003. He was convicted by the High Court on May 20th, 2008. The death sentence was upheld by the Court of Appeal on June 30th, 2011.
The applicant claims that throughout the proceedings he was deprived of his right to equal protection before the law, as well as his right to a fair trial.
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 30th, 2021, 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 raised objections relating to the lack of jurisdiction of the Court and the inadmissibility of the application. After examining the pleas in law, the Court declared that it had jurisdiction to hear the case. With regard to admissibility, it examined in turn all the criteria listed in article 50 of the Rules of Court and concluded that the application had not been lodged within a reasonable time and was therefore not admissible.
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.
