Wakilii

Muwinda and Others v United Republic of Tanzania (Application No. 030-2017)

African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights · [2021] AfCHPR 56 · 2021 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for extension of time and reopening of pleadings in a human rights case concerning unpaid subsistence allowances following retrenchment
Decision
Pleadings reopened and extension of time granted to Respondent State

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 for extension of time to file its Response and Submissions on Reparations, and ordered the reopening of pleadings in the interests of justice. The Court exercised its discretion under Rule 46(3) to reopen pleadings where the interests of justice required, giving the Respondent State thirty days to file its full List of Representatives, Response and Submissions on Reparations.

Outcome

Pleadings reopened and extension of time granted to Respondent State

Facts

The Applicants, 59 Tanzanian nationals, were retrenched from Urafiki Textile Mills, a publicly owned corporation, following its dissolution by gazette notice on 21 March 1997. Their terminal benefits were not paid immediately and were only finalised in March 1998. The Applicants filed an application before the African Court claiming violation of their right to be paid subsistence allowances for the period they were jobless while awaiting payment of terminal benefits. The Application was filed on 25 September 2017 and served on the Respondent State on 23 February 2018. Despite several reminders, the Respondent State did not file its Response or Submissions on Reparations. Pleadings were closed on 28 May 2019. On 14 December 2020, the Respondent State requested extension of time to file its Response, citing the need to consult with government stakeholders and agencies.

Issues

  1. Whether the Court should grant the Respondent State's request for extension of time to file its Response and Submissions on Reparations.
  2. Whether pleadings should be reopened to enable the Respondent State to file its pleadings.

Orders

  • Pleadings in Application No. 030/2017 be and are hereby re-opened.
  • The Respondent State should file its full List of Representatives, Response and Submissions on Reparations within thirty (30) days of receipt of this Order.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Extension of Time — Discretion of Court — Interests of Justice
Where the interests of justice so require, the Court is empowered by the Rules to order that pleadings be reopened or grant an extension of time for a Party to file its pleadings.
Civil Procedure — Reopening of Pleadings — Discretion — Rule 46(3)
The Court has the discretion under Rule 46(3) of the Rules to determine whether or not to reopen pleadings, and may exercise this discretion in the interests of justice to enable a party to file its pleadings even after pleadings have been closed.

Cases cited (1)

  • Andrew Ambrose Cheusi v United Republic of Tanzania (Application No. 004/2015)

Full judgment

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

Muwinda and Others v United Republic of Tanzania (Application No. 030-2017) [2021] AfCHPR 56 (5 March 2021)
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.