Wakilii

Ange v Republic of Côte D’ivoire (Ruling) (Application No. 034-2019)

African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights · [2025] AfCHPR 14 · 2025 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights alleging violation of fair trial rights in domestic criminal proceedings
Decision
Application dismissed as inadmissible for non-exhaustion of local remedies

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights held that the application was inadmissible for failure to exhaust local remedies. The applicant, convicted of criminal offences in Côte d'Ivoire, did not file a cassation appeal against the Court of Appeal judgment. The Court found that cassation is an available, effective and satisfactory remedy in Côte d'Ivoire's judicial system, and that lack of legal representation and ignorance of the remedy's existence do not excuse failure to pursue it.

Outcome

Application dismissed as inadmissible for non-exhaustion of local remedies

Facts

The applicant, an Ivorian national, was convicted on 1 March 2013 by the Yopougon Court of First Instance of criminal conspiracy, gang armed robbery and indecent assault with violence, and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. The Abidjan Court of Appeal confirmed the conviction and sentence on 8 February 2017. The applicant acknowledged the facts at all stages of the proceedings. He did not file a cassation appeal against the Court of Appeal judgment, claiming he was not assisted by counsel and was unaware of the remedy's existence. He filed an application with the African Court on 22 July 2019, alleging violations of his right to a fair trial under the African Charter and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Issues

  1. Whether the applicant exhausted local remedies before bringing the application to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights.
  2. Whether the application was filed within a reasonable time.
  3. Whether the applicant's right to a fair trial under Article 7(1) of the African Charter was violated in domestic criminal proceedings.

Orders

  • Declares that it has jurisdiction.
  • Upholds the objection to admissibility based on non-exhaustion of local remedies.
  • Declares the Application inadmissible.
  • Orders each Party to bear its own costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Admissibility — Exhaustion of Local Remedies — Cassation Appeal as Available Remedy
In the judicial system of Côte d'Ivoire, a cassation appeal is an available, effective and satisfactory remedy that must be exhausted before an application can be brought to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights.
Admissibility — Exhaustion of Local Remedies — Lack of Legal Representation
The fact that an applicant was not assisted by counsel and was ignorant of the existence of a remedy cannot be grounds for not pursuing that remedy for purposes of the exhaustion of local remedies requirement.
Admissibility — Exhaustion of Local Remedies — Allegation of Ineffectiveness
An applicant cannot merely allege that a remedy is ineffective but must at least attempt to pursue it in order to satisfy the requirement of exhaustion of local remedies.
Admissibility — Cumulative Requirements
The admissibility requirements under Article 56 of the African Charter are cumulative such that if one of them is not met, an application is inadmissible.

Legislation cited (10)

  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 7(1)(a)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 7(1)(c)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 7(1)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 15(1)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 56
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 56(5)
  • Protocol to the African Charter on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 3
  • Protocol to the African Charter on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 6(2)
  • Protocol to the African Charter on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 34(6)
  • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 15(1)

Cases cited (16)

  • Kouadio Kobena Fory v Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (Merits and Reparations) (2 December 2021) 5 AfCLR 682
  • Suy Bi Gohoré Émile and Others v Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (Merits and Reparations) (15 July 2020) 4 AfCLR 406
  • Ingabire Victoire Umuhoza v Republic of Rwanda (Jurisdiction) (3 June 2016) 1 AfCLR 540
  • Lohé Issa Konaté v Burkina Faso (Merits) (5 December 2014) 1 AfCLR 324
  • Sébastien Germain Marie Aïkoué Ajavon v Republic of Benin (Jurisdiction and Admissibility) (2 December 2021) 5 AfCLR 93
  • Kijiji Isiaga v United Republic of Tanzania (Merits) (21 March 2018) 2 AfCLR 226
  • African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights v Republic of Kenya (Merits) (26 May 2017) 2 AfCLR 9
  • Sébastien Germain Marie Aïkoué Ajavon v Republic of Benin (Merits) (29 March 2019) 3 AfCLR 136
  • Oulaï Marius v Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (Application No. 032/2019) (Jurisdiction and Admissibility) (4 December 2024)
  • Goh Taudier and Others v Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (Applications Nos. 017/2019, 018/2019 and 019/2019) (Jurisdiction and Admissibility) (4 June 2024)
  • Moussa Doumbia v Côte d'Ivoire (Application No. 029/2019) (13 September 2024)
  • Aminata Soumaré v Republic of Mali (Application No. 038/2019) (Jurisdiction and Admissibility) (5 September 2023)
  • Yacouba Traoré v Republic of Mali (Application No. 002/2019) (Jurisdiction and Admissibility) (22 September 2022)
  • Mariam Kouma and Ousmane Diabaté v Republic of Mali (Jurisdiction and Admissibility) (21 March 2018) 2 AfCLR 237
  • Rutabingwa Chrysanthe v Republic of Rwanda (Jurisdiction and Admissibility) (11 May 2018) 2 AfCLR 361
  • Kouassi Kouame and Baba Sylla v Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (Application No. 015/2021) (Merits and Reparations) (22 September 2022)

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

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

Ange v Republic of Côte D’ivoire (Ruling) (Application No. 034-2019) [2025] AfCHPR 14 (5 February 2025)
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.