A case commences when an application is filed at the Court. All information on how to write an application can be found on our “How to file a case” link. The application is received at the Registry and the Registrar verifies all the documents.

In case there are still documents or evidence missing, the Registrar requests the Applicant(s) to provide the missing information.

Once the Registrar has verified that all necessary documents that have been received , the Application is transmitted to the Respondent State.

The Respondent State  is then granted ninety (90) days to file a Response. If the Respondent State files a response this is transmitted to the Applicant for them to file a reply within  forty five (45) days.

The Court may decide to hold Public hearings on its own volition or at the request of a party. The Court delivers its judgment after deliberations on the case. After the delivery of judgment, a certified true copy of the judgment is transmitted to the Parties, the African Union Member States and the Banjul Commission. Once the Parties, the AU Commission and the AU Member States are notified of the decision, the Respondent State must submit periodic reports to the Court on the implementation of the judgment within the timelines specified in their operative part of the judgment. The Applicant  can file observations on the Respondent State’s reports on compliance with the judgment.

The Parties can request for an interpretation of specific items of the operative part of the judgment by the Court for the purpose of executing a judgment. However, it is up to the Court to decide whether to allow the request or not.

The Parties can also request for a review of the judgment where they discover new evidence. Nevertheless, the Court will only consider an application for review of a judgement if  the new evidence sought to be filed was not within the knowledge of the Party at the time the judgment was delivered and the filing of such an application for review must be within six (6) months of the discovery of the new evidence.

A party can request for interpretation of a decision, for purposes of executing a decision, within twelve (12) months from the date of notification of the decision unless the Court, in the interests of justice, decides otherwise.