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Murimi and Others v United Republic of Tanzania (Application No. 039-2019; Application No. 040-2019; Application No. 041-2019)

African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights · [2025] AfCHPR 36 · 2025 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for reopening of pleadings in consolidated human rights applications before the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights
Decision
Pleadings reopened; Respondent State granted leave to file Response out of time

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 granted the Respondent State's request to reopen pleadings and file its Response out of time. The Court exercised its discretionary power under Rule 46(3) and Rule 90 of the Rules, finding that the delay was not deliberate or negligent but occasioned by the need to source information from stakeholders concerning the killing of a person with albinism. The Court ordered that the Respondent State's submissions filed on 20 November 2025 be deemed duly filed and transmitted to the Applicants for reply within 45 days.

Outcome

Pleadings reopened; Respondent State granted leave to file Response out of time

Facts

The Applicants are three Tanzanian nationals convicted of murdering Aron Nongo, a person with albinism, on 26 June 2009 at Ibanda village using a machete. They were arrested on 19 July 2009, charged on 28 July 2009, convicted and sentenced to death by the High Court of Tanzania on 16 October 2015. Their appeal to the Court of Appeal of Tanzania was dismissed on 4 April 2019. The Applicants filed individual applications before the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights on 7 August 2019, alleging violations of their rights. The applications were served on the Respondent State on 21 August 2019. Pleadings were closed on 11 November 2025. On 20 November 2025, the Respondent State requested leave to reopen pleadings and file its Response out of time, citing the need to source information from stakeholders regarding the killing of a person with albinism. The Applicants did not object to this request.

Issues

  1. Whether the Court should exercise its discretion to reopen pleadings and grant the Respondent State leave to file its Response out of time.

Orders

  • Pleadings in Consolidated Application nos. 039-040-041/2019 - Chacha Jeremiah Murimi and others v. United Republic of Tanzania are reopened.
  • The Respondent State's submissions filed on 20 November 2025 are deemed to have been duly filed and be transmitted to the Applicants, for their Reply thereto, if any, within 45 days.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Pleadings — Reopening of Pleadings — Discretionary Power of Court
The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights has discretionary power under Rule 46(3) of its Rules to determine whether or not to reopen pleadings, and this power may be exercised in the interest of justice.
Civil Procedure — Extension of Time — Grounds for Extension — Absence of Deliberate Delay or Negligence
Where a party's delay in filing pleadings is neither deliberate nor occasioned by negligence, but rather by the need to source information from stakeholders, the Court may exercise its discretion to grant leave to file out of time in the interest of justice.

Cases cited (1)

  • Andrew Ambrose Cheusi v United Republic of Tanzania (26 June 2020) 4 AfCLR 219

Full judgment

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

Murimi and Others v United Republic of Tanzania (Application No. 039-2019; Application No. 040-2019; Application No. 041-2019) [2025] AfCHPR 36 (2 December 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.