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Nyamwasa and Others v Republic of Rwanda (Order) (Application 016-2015)

African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights · [2016] AfCHPR 62 · 2016 Application to Continue AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Interlocutory order on effect of respondent's withdrawal of declaration accepting Court's jurisdiction
Decision
Application to continue — withdrawal of declaration has no effect on pending proceedings

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court decided to continue examining the application despite Rwanda's withdrawal of its declaration accepting the Court's jurisdiction to receive cases from individuals. Following its ruling in Ingabire Victoire Umuhoza v Republic of Rwanda, the Court held that the withdrawal does not suspend proceedings in cases filed before the withdrawal was deposited.

Outcome

Application to continue — withdrawal of declaration has no effect on pending proceedings

Facts

On 22 July 2015, Kayumba Nyamwasa and others filed an application against the Republic of Rwanda before the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. Rwanda had deposited a declaration accepting the Court's jurisdiction to receive cases from individuals on 22 June 2013. On 29 February 2016, Rwanda deposited an instrument withdrawing that declaration and requested the Court suspend all hearings involving Rwanda. The Court had already scheduled a public hearing for 4 March 2016 in a separate case involving Rwanda. On 18 March 2016, the Court ordered parties to file written submissions on the effect of the withdrawal and adjourned all cases filed against Rwanda pending its ruling. On 3 June 2016, the Court issued a ruling in the Ingabire case holding that the withdrawal had no effect on applications filed before the withdrawal.

Issues

  1. Whether Rwanda's withdrawal of its declaration under Article 34(6) of the Protocol has the effect of suspending proceedings in cases filed before the withdrawal.

Orders

  • The Court unanimously decides to continue examining this Application.

Rules and key headnotes

International Human Rights Courts — Jurisdiction — Withdrawal of Optional Declaration
A state's withdrawal of its declaration accepting an international court's jurisdiction to receive individual applications does not have the effect of suspending proceedings in cases that were filed before the withdrawal was deposited.

Legislation cited (1)

  • Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 34(6)

Cases cited (1)

  • Ingabire Victoire Umuhoza v Republic of Rwanda (Application No. 003/2014)

Full judgment

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

Nyamwasa and Others v Republic of Rwanda (Order) (Application 016-2015) [2016] AfCHPR 62 (3 June 2016)
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.