Wakilii

Letuya and Others v Republic of Kenya (Application No. 010-2024)

African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights · [2024] AfCHPR 40 · 2024 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for provisional measures and injunctive relief following alleged non-implementation of earlier African Court judgment
Decision
Application dismissed on jurisdictional grounds without consideration of merits

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 unanimously dismissed the application for lack of personal jurisdiction. Kenya has not deposited the Declaration under Article 34(6) of the Protocol accepting the Court's jurisdiction to receive cases from individuals. Without this Declaration, applications brought by individuals directly to the Court cannot be heard, regardless of the merits of the underlying claims.

Outcome

Application dismissed on jurisdictional grounds without consideration of merits

Facts

The Applicants are members of the Ogiek Community claiming ownership of lands in Nakuru County, Kenya. In 2012, they instituted proceedings in Kenya's Environment and Land Court regarding eviction from ancestral land, which resulted in findings of rights violations and orders for resettlement. The African Court previously decided Application 006/2012 on merits (2017) and reparations (2022) concerning the Ogiek people. The Applicants alleged that the reliefs ordered in that earlier judgment had barely been implemented and that Kenya had recommenced evictions. They sought urgent provisional measures and injunctions to prevent further evictions pending resettlement.

Issues

  1. Whether the Court has personal jurisdiction to hear an application brought by individuals against a State that has not deposited the Declaration under Article 34(6) of the Protocol.

Orders

  • Application dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction.

Rules and key headnotes

Human Rights — African Court Jurisdiction — Personal Jurisdiction — Article 34(6) Declaration Requirement
The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights lacks personal jurisdiction to hear applications brought directly by individuals against a State Party that has not deposited the Declaration under Article 34(6) of the Protocol accepting the Court's jurisdiction to receive cases from individuals and non-governmental organisations.
Administrative Law — Judicial Review — New Application Distinguished from Ancillary Proceedings
An application that has already been determined on both merits and reparations cannot form a cause of action for a subsequent independent application, which must stand as a new application requiring fresh determination of jurisdiction.

Cases cited (3)

  • Joseph Letuya & 21 Others v Attorney General & 5 Others [2014] eKLR
  • African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights v Republic of Kenya (Application No. 006/2012)
  • African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights v Republic of Kenya (Application No. 006/2012)

Full judgment

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

Letuya and Others v Republic of Kenya (Application No. 010-2024) [2024] AfCHPR 40 (16 October 2024)
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.