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Amare and Another v Republic of Mozambique and Another (Application 5 of 2011)

African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights · [2011] AfCHPR 39 · 2011 Application Dismissed — No Jurisdiction AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application by individuals to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights alleging violations by Mozambique immigration officials and airline
Decision
Application dismissed for lack of jurisdiction and transferred to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights held that it lacked jurisdiction to hear an application brought by individuals against the Republic of Mozambique because Mozambique had not deposited the declaration under Article 34(6) of the Protocol accepting the Court's competence to receive cases brought by individuals. The Court transferred the matter to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.

Outcome

Application dismissed for lack of jurisdiction and transferred to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights

Facts

In November 2008, the applicants, two Ethiopian nationals, obtained passports, visas, and air tickets to travel to Maputo, Mozambique via Nairobi, Kenya. After transiting from Ethiopian Airlines to Mozambique Airlines in Nairobi, their flight landed in Pemba, Mozambique instead of Maputo. The applicants allege they were stranded in Pemba for 26 days and subjected to various hardships by Mozambique immigration officials, including demands for bribes, confiscation of passports and visas, robbery of $1000, torture, and deportation to Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. After intervention by Tanzanian immigration officials, they were returned to Pemba but subsequently repatriated to Ethiopia. The applicants filed an application with the African Court seeking redress and refund of the money allegedly robbed from them.

Issues

  1. Whether the Court has jurisdiction to hear an application brought by individuals against a State Party that has not deposited a declaration under Article 34(6) of the Protocol accepting the Court's competence to receive such cases.

Orders

  • Application dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
  • Matter transferred to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights in terms of Article 6(3) of the Protocol.

Rules and key headnotes

Human Rights — Jurisdiction — African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights — Individual Applications — State Declaration Requirement
The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights lacks jurisdiction to hear applications brought by individuals against a State Party that has not deposited a declaration under Article 34(6) of the Protocol to the African Charter accepting the Court's competence to receive cases brought by individuals under Article 5(3).
Administrative Law — Judicial Review — Transfer of Matters — African Court to African Commission
Where the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights lacks jurisdiction to hear a matter but the allegations raise issues appropriate for consideration by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, the Court may exercise its discretion under Article 6(3) of the Protocol to transfer the application to the Commission.

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Amare and Another v Republic of Mozambique and Another (Application 5 of 2011) [2011] AfCHPR 39 (16 June 2011)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.