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Law offices of Ghazi Suleiman v Sudan (Communication 220 of 1998)

African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights · [2002] ACHPR 37 · 2002 Communication Inadmissible AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Communication to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights alleging violations of the African Charter arising from closure of universities in Sudan
Decision
Communication dismissed as inadmissible without consideration of merits

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The African Commission declared the communication inadmissible for non-exhaustion of local remedies under Article 56.5 of the African Charter. The Commission found that one month between the closure of universities and receipt of the complaint was insufficient time to access and exhaust local remedies, and the complainant gave no indication of instituting proceedings before domestic courts. The Commission rejected the complainant's argument that local remedies were ineffective due to lack of judicial independence.

Outcome

Communication dismissed as inadmissible without consideration of merits

Facts

On 26 September 1998, the Minister of Education in Sudan announced closure of all universities for one month, allegedly to assist military mobilisation for the civil war in Southern Sudan. The Law Offices of Ghazi Suleiman, a human rights law office, filed a communication on behalf of all university students and teachers in Sudan. The complaint was received by the African Commission Secretariat on 14 October 1998. The complainant included a sworn affidavit from a Khartoum University lecturer and notified the Commission that an administrative appeal had been filed against the Minister's decision, though success was not expected. The complainant requested provisional measures under Rule 111 to compel Sudan to reopen universities immediately.

Issues

  1. Whether the communication was admissible before the African Commission given the requirement to exhaust local remedies under Article 56.5 of the African Charter.
  2. Whether local remedies in Sudan were effective and accessible to the complainants.
  3. Whether the interval of one month between the closure of universities and filing of the communication was sufficient time to exhaust local remedies.

Orders

  • Communication declared inadmissible due to non-exhaustion of local remedies.

Rules and key headnotes

Human Rights — Admissibility of Communications — Exhaustion of Local Remedies
A communication to the African Commission must be subsequent to exhaustion of local remedies if they exist, unless it is obvious that the procedure for such recourse is abnormally prolonged, as required by Article 56.5 of the African Charter.
Administrative Law — Exhaustion of Remedies — Burden of Proof
Where a complainant alleges that local remedies are ineffective due to lack of judicial independence, the burden remains on the complainant to demonstrate either that remedies were exhausted or that the procedure is abnormally prolonged or otherwise unavailable.
Human Rights — Admissibility — Timing and Access to Local Remedies
An interval of one month between the occurrence of an alleged violation and filing of a communication before the African Commission is insufficient time within which a complainant could have accessed and exhausted all local remedies.

Legislation cited (7)

  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 6
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 7(c)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 17(1)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 55
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 56.5
  • Rules of Procedure of the African Commission Rule 111
  • Administrative and Constitutional Code of Justice of 1996 (as amended in 2000) Article 20(1)

Full judgment

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

Law offices of Ghazi Suleiman v Sudan (Communication 220 of 1998) [2002] ACHPR 37 (16 May 2002)
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.