Remainder inadmissible;No violation of Article 3 - Prohibition of torture (Article 3 - Inhuman treatment) (Substantive aspect);Violation of Article 8 - Right to respect for private and family life (Article 8-1 - Respect for family life;Respect for private life);Violation of Article 13+8 - Right to an effective remedy (Article 13 - Effective remedy) (Article 8 - Right to respect for private and family life);Non-pecuniary damage - finding of violation sufficient

Dmitry Dedov;Erik Møse;Isabelle Berro-Lefèvre;Julia Laffranque;Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos;Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska;Ksenija Turković

Early in the morning of 13 October 2005 law-enforcement agencies in the town of Nalchik, the Republic of Kabardino-Balkariya, were attacked by a number of heavily armed people, who appear to have been local insurgents. The agencies included the Republican Department of the Ministry of the Interior, Centre T of the Main Department of the Ministry of the Interior, various district departments of the Ministry of the Interior, the Special Purpose Police Unit of the Republican Ministry of the Interior, various checkpoints of the Traffic Police, the Republican Department of the Federal Security Service, the Republican Department of the Federal Service for the Execution of Penalties and the office of the Border Guard Service of the Federal Security Service. Also, a few privately owned weapon shops were attacked. According to the Government, there were over two hundred and fifty participants in the attack.

The ensuing fight between the governmental forces and the insurgents lasted until at least 14 October 2005.

The first, second, third, fifth and seventh applicants submit that they are relatives of the people whose dead bodies were found following the events of 13 and 14 October 2005 (see paragraphs 8, 9, 10, 12 and 14). The fourth applicant claims that his son was killed by State agents in the village of Anzorey in the Leskenskiy District of the Republic of KabardinoBalkariya on 6 January 2006 (see paragraph 11). The sixth applicant claims that her son was killed by State agents in the town of Nalchik on 12 November 2005 (see paragraph 13). All of the applicants live in the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria and, unless stated otherwise, are residents of Nalchik.

The first applicant, Mr Khusen Kadirovich Arkhestov, born in 1954, referred to the death of his son Mr Lokman Khusenovich Arkhestov, born on 30 December 1989.

The second applicant, Mrs Kulisum Zhantuganovna Balkizova, born in 1956, referred to the death of her son Mr Kantemir Safudinovich Balkizov, born on 29 March 1982.

The third applicant, Mrs Asiyat Kunakovna Guziyeva, born in 1976, referred to the death of her husband Mr Arsen Gumarovich Margushev, born on 6 January 1979.

The fourth applicant, Mr Askarbi Khamidovich Zhekamukhov, born in 1955, referred to the death of his son Mr Albert Askarbiyevich Zhekamukhov, born on 23 November 1980.

The fifth applicant, Mr Arsen Khazhmastafovich Tukov, born in 1939, referred to the death of his son Mr Anatoliy Arsenovich Tukov, born on 3 August 1974.

The sixth applicant, Mrs Mariya Latifovna Khuranova, who was born in 1955 and lives in the village of Shalushka, referred to the death of her son Mr Azamat Anatolyevich Brayev, born on 29 July 1975.

The seventh applicant, Mrs Lyuda Khazhmuradovna Shogenova, who was born in 1965 and lives in the village of Zalukokoazhe, referred to the death of her brother Mr Aslan Khadzmuratovich Shogenov, born on 26 January 1965.

The Government did not dispute this information.

It appears that on 13 October 2005 the authorities instituted criminal proceedings no. 25/78-05 in connection with the attack in Nalchik.

In the course of the investigation it was established that between 1999 and February 2005 a group of individuals including A. Maskhadov, Sh. Basayev, I. Gorchkhanov, A. Astemirov, Abu-Valid Khattab and AbuDzeit, had formed a terrorist group. It was this group that organised the attack. Thirty-five law-enforcement officers and fifteen civilians were killed, whilst one hundred and thirty-one law-enforcement officers and ninety-two civilians were injured. Massive damage was done to property.

The applicants did not have any procedural status in the criminal proceedings in case no. 25/78-05.

Immediately following the attack, an unspecified number of people (including some of the applicants) signed collective petitions requesting various officials, including the prosecutors, to return the bodies for burial.

Between the end of October 2005 and until at least April 2006 the applicants received replies from the prosecution and other authorities informing them that they would receive definite answers once the investigation into the events had been completed.

Attempts by some of the applicants to challenge these replies in the domestic courts were unsuccessful, as they were rejected as premature both at first instance and on appeal.

On 13 April 2006 the investigation authority terminated the criminal proceedings in respect of the ninety-five deceased on account of their deaths, having taken an individual decision in respect of each deceased person. Each decision described the degree and character of their individual involvement and concluded that these persons had taken part in the attack and died as a result of the ensuing fight. The decisions described the circumstances of death of the persons referred to by the applicants; they are set out below. The respondent Government have submitted the investigation case file in respect of the circumstances of death of each of the deceased persons.

The son of the first applicant, Lokman Khusenovich Arkhestov, was found to have taken part in the attack of 13 October 2005. He died in the exchange of gunfire which followed the collective attempt by the attackers to storm a building of the Federal Service for the Execution of Penalties.

The son of the second applicant, Kantemir Safudinovich Balkizov, was found to have taken part in the attack of 13 October 2005. He died in the exchange of gunfire which followed the collective attempt by the attackers to storm a building of the Ministry of the Interior.

The husband of the third applicant, Arsen Gumarovich Margushev, was found to have taken part in the attack of 13 October 2005. He died in the exchange of gunfire which followed the collective attempt by the attackers to storm a building of the Ministry of the Interior.

The son of the fourth applicant, Albert Askarbiyevich Zhekamukhov, was found to have taken part in the attack of 13 October 2005 and subsequently to have escaped from Nalchik and gone into hiding. He was located in the village of Anzorey in the Leskenskiy District of the Republic of Kabardino-Balkariya on 6 January 2006. After rejecting a call to give himself up, he died as a result of a failed attempt to arrest him.

The son of the fifth applicant, Anatoliy Arsenovich Tukov, was found to have taken part in the attack of 13 October 2005. He died in the exchange of gunfire which followed the collective attempt by the attackers to storm a building of the Ministry of the Interior.

The son of the sixth applicant, Azamat Anatolyevich Brayev, was found to have taken part on 12 October 2005 in an exchange of gunfire with police officers preceding the main attack of 13 October 2005. He belonged to the same group as the attackers, but was detected by police officers by chance one day prior to the attack.

The brother of the seventh applicant, Aslan Khazhmuratovich Shogenov, was found to have taken part in the attack of 13 October 2005. He died in the exchange of gunfire which followed the collective attempt by the attackers to storm a building of the Ministry of the Interior.

The Prosecutor General’s Office notified the applicants of the above decisions on 14 April 2006, but no copies of the decisions in question were attached to the notifications.

In the Strasbourg proceedings the Government submitted copies of the decisions of 13 April 2006 in respect of each of the applicants’ relatives.

The applicants were furnished with death certificates in respect of their relatives:

According to the Government, ninety-five corpses of the presumed terrorists were cremated on 22 June 2006.

The cremation took place pursuant to a decision not to return the bodies of the deceased to their families, dated 15 May 2006. In contrast to the individual decisions of 13 April 2006, the decision of 15 May 2006 referred to the deceased persons collectively. The decision stated, in particular:

“... the head of investigation group ... [official S.], having examined the materials in case file no. 25/78-05, established: ... [that] in the course of the counter-terrorist special operation aimed at tackling the attack, 95 terrorists were eliminated, namely:

[the decision names among the deceased all of the persons referred to by the applicants]

At present all forensic expert examinations, including molecular genetic examinations, involving ... the corpses of the deceased terrorists, have been finalised and their identities have been established by way of proper procedure.

By decisions of 13-14 April 2006 the criminal proceedings in respect of these 95 persons, who had committed ... the attack on various sites and law-enforcement agents of the town of Nalchik ... was discontinued on account of their deaths, under Article 27 part 1 subpart 2 and Article 24 part 1 subpart 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Pursuant to section 14(1) of the Federal Interment and Burial Act (Law no. 8-FZ) ‘the interment of persons against whom a criminal investigation in connection with their terrorist activities has been closed because of their death following interception of the said terrorist act shall take place in accordance with the procedure established by the Government of the Russian Federation. Their bodies shall not be handed over for burial and the place of their burial shall not be revealed.’

Pursuant to part 3 of Decree no. 164, ‘On interment of persons whose death was caused by the interception of terrorist acts carried out by them’, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation on 20 March 2003, ‘the interment of [these] persons shall take place in the locality where death occurred and shall be carried out by agencies specialising in funeral arrangements, set up by organs of the executive branch of the subjects of the Russian Federation or by organs of local government ...’.

[In view of the above, official S. decided to:]

bury the bodies of the 95 terrorists ...

forward the decision to the President of the Republic of Kabardino-Balkariya for execution;

inform [his superiors] of this decision”.

The Government alleged that the authorities had notified the applicants of the decision of 15 May 2006, but acknowledged that no copy of that decision had been provided to them.

It appears that on several occasions the Prosecutor General’s Office informed the applicants, in substance, of the refusal to return the bodies. It does not appear that the applicants were furnished with a copy of the decision of 15 May 2006.

The applicants’ initial attempts to obtain judicial review of the decisions of 13 April and 15 May 2006 were unsuccessful, as the courts refused to examine their arguments.

The relatives of those who had taken part in the attack of 13 October 2005 contested the legislation governing the interment of terrorists before the Constitutional Court.

On 28 June 2007 the Constitutional Court delivered a judgment (no. 8-P) in which, in essence, it rejected their complaints alleging that section 14(1) of the Interment and Burial Act and Decree no. 164 of the Government of the Russian Federation of 20 March 2003 were unconstitutional. The ruling stated, in particular, that the impugned legal provisions were, in the circumstances, necessary and justified. The court reached the following conclusions regarding the legitimate aims and necessity of the legislation in question:

“... At the same time, the interest in fighting terrorism, in preventing terrorism in general and specific terms and in providing redress for the effects of terrorist acts, coupled with the risk of mass disorder, clashes between different ethnic groups and aggression by the next of kin of those involved in terrorist activity against the population at large and law-enforcement officials, and lastly the threat to human life and limb, may, in a given historical context, justify the establishment of a particular legal regime, such as that provided for by section 14(1) of the Federal Act, governing the burial of persons who escape prosecution in connection with terrorist activity on account of their death following the interception of a terrorist act ... Those provisions are logically connected to the provisions of paragraph 4 of Recommendation 1687 (2004) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on combating terrorism through culture, dated 23 November 2005, in which it was stressed that extremist interpretations of elements of a particular culture or religion, such as heroic martyrdom, self-sacrifice, apocalypse or holy war, as well as secular ideologies (nationalist or revolutionary) could also be used for the justification of terrorist acts.

3.2. Action to minimise the informational and psychological impact of the terrorist act on the population, including the weakening of its propaganda effect, is one of the means necessary to protect public security and the morals, health, rights and legal interests of citizens. It therefore pursues exactly those aims for which the Constitution of the Russian Federation and international legal instruments permit restrictions on the relevant rights and freedoms.

The burial of those who have taken part in a terrorist act, in close proximity to the graves of the victims of their acts, and the observance of rites of burial and remembrance with the paying of respects, as a symbolic act of worship, serve as a means of propaganda for terrorist ideas and also cause offence to relatives of the victims of the acts in question, creating the preconditions for increasing inter-ethnic and religious tension.

In the conditions which have arisen in the Russian Federation as a result of the commission of a series of terrorist acts which produced numerous human victims, resulted in widespread negative social reaction and had a major impact on the collective consciousness, the return of the body to the relatives ... may create a threat to social order and peace and to the rights and legal interests of other persons and their security, including incitement to hatred and incitement to engage in acts of vandalism, violence, mass disorder and clashes which may produce further victims. Meanwhile, the burial places of participants in terrorist acts may become a shrine for certain extremist individuals and be used by them as a means of propaganda for the ideology of terrorism and involvement in terrorist activity.

In such circumstances, the federal legislature may introduce special arrangements governing the burial of individuals whose death occurred as a result of the interception of a terrorist act in which they were taking part. ...”

The ruling further noted that the application of the measures prescribed in the legislation could be regarded as justified if proper procedural safeguards, such as effective judicial review, were in place to protect individuals from arbitrariness. The court noted that Articles 123-127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provided for such review.

In sum, the Constitutional Court upheld the impugned provisions as being in conformity with the Constitution but at the same time interpreted them as requiring that the authorities refrain from burying bodies unless a court had confirmed the competent authority’s decision. It reasoned as follows:

“... The constitutional and legal meaning of the existing norms presupposes the possibility of bringing court proceedings to challenge a decision to discontinue, on account of the deaths of the suspects, a criminal case against or prosecution of participants in a terrorist act. Accordingly, they also presuppose an obligation on the court’s part to examine the substance of the complaint, that is, to verify the lawfulness and well-foundedness of the decision and the conclusions therein as regards the participation of the persons concerned in a terrorist act, and to establish the absence of grounds for rehabilitating [the suspects] and discontinuing the criminal case. They thus entail an examination of the lawfulness of the application of the aforementioned restrictive measures. Until the entry into force of the court judgment the deceased’s remains cannot be buried; the relevant State bodies and officials must take all necessary measures to ensure that the bodies are disposed of in accordance with custom and tradition, in particular through the burial of the remains in the ground ... or by [cremation], individually, if possible, and to ensure compliance prior thereto with the requirements concerning the identification of the deceased ... and of the time, location and cause of death ...”

Judge G.A. Gadzhiyev issued a separate opinion in which he agreed that the impugned provisions were in conformity with the Constitution but held a different view as to how they should be interpreted. The opinion stated as follows:

“... if the relevant law-enforcement agencies find, as a result of a preliminary investigation, that a terrorist act has been committed and that a given person was involved, but the criminal proceedings against that person ... are discontinued on account of his or her death following interception of the terrorist act, and if they then conclude that the decision to return the body to the family for burial is capable of threatening public order and peace and the health, morals, rights, lawful interests and safety of others, they are entitled to take a decision refusing to hand over the body and applying special arrangements for burial.

At the same time, in the event of a refusal to return the body of an individual whose death occurred as the result of the interception of a terrorist act committed by him, the authorities competent to take a decision concerning the burial must secure compliance with all the requirements concerning the establishment of the deceased’s identity, the time and place of death, the cause of death, the place of burial and the data necessary for the proper identification of the grave (a given location and number). The burial must take place with the participation of the relatives, in accordance with custom and tradition and with humanitarian respect for the dead. The administrative authorities of a State governed by the rule of law must respect the cultural values of a multi-ethnic society, transmitted from generation to generation. ...”

Judge A.L. Kononov issued a dissenting opinion in which he described the legislation in question as incompatible with the Constitution. In particular, he noted:

“... The impugned norms banning the return of the deceased’s bodies to their relatives and providing for their anonymous burial are, in our view, absolutely immoral and reflect the most uncivilised, barbaric and base views of previous generations ...

The right of every person to be buried in a dignified manner in accordance with the traditions and customs of his family hardly requires special justification or even to be secured in written form in law. This right is clearly self-evident and stems from human nature as, perhaps, no other natural right. Equally natural and uncontested is the right of every person to conduct the burial of a person who is related and dear to them, to have an opportunity to perform one’s moral duty and display one’s human qualities, to bid farewell, to grieve, mourn and commemorate the deceased, however he may be regarded by society and the state, to have the right to a grave, which in all civilisations represents a sacred value and the symbol of memory. ...”

After the Constitutional Court’s judgment of 28 June 2007 the domestic courts apparently changed their approach and agreed to review the formal lawfulness of the decisions of 13 April and 15 May 2006.

The applicants brought the following court proceedings in connection with the relevant decisions.

As a result of the above-mentioned sets of proceedings the applicants succeeded in having quashed the decisions of 13 April and 15 May 2006 in part. It appears that the domestic courts subsequently changed their position and the relevant judgments were later quashed by way of supervisory review. After these changes, the courts still could not review the need for application of the measures set out in section 14 (1) of the Interment and Burial Act and Decree no. 164 of 20 March 2003 in individual cases.

According to the applicants who took part in the identification of the bodies, for several days following the events of 13 and 14 October 2005 the corpses (except for the bodies of the relatives of the fourth and sixth applicant, who died at other dates and were identified later) were kept in the town morgue and other locations in wholly unsatisfactory conditions. In particular, the bodies gave off an intense smell owing to the lack of proper refrigeration and were chaotically piled on top of one other.

In response to a letter from the applicants requesting an explanation for the appalling storage conditions, the Prosecutor General’s Office stated in a letter of 14 April 2006 that until a procedural decision in respect of the corpses had been taken they had been kept in specially equipped rooms in refrigerated chambers set to the appropriate temperature. The authorities refused to disclose the locality where the bodies were stored.

According to the Government, the following applicants participated in the identification procedure in person:

According to the applicants, they had access to the bodies both in the Nalchik town morgue and in two refrigerator wagons parked on a plot of land belonging to the Ministry of the Interior. Provision of access to the bodies was random, as not everyone who wanted to take part in the identification process was admitted. In some cases the provision of access was not properly documented. Since the provision of access was limited, the relevant facilities were usually surrounded by crowds of relatives of the deceased.

The Government submitted that the corpses in question had been initially held in the Nalchik town morgue. Between 14 and 18 October 2005 the applicants examined the corpses and the clothing. Thereafter the bodies were placed in two refrigerator wagons. On 1 November 2005 the wagons were moved to the town of Rostov-on-Don for molecular genetic examinations and on 22 June 2006 all bodies were cremated. Between 13 and 22 October 2005 the person in charge of the identification procedure was the head of the investigation group investigator P. As of 22 October 2005 he was replaced by investigator S. The Government also acknowledged that immediately after the attack no facilities had been available to keep the bodies.

According to the Government’s most recent submissions, the overall number of human casualties as a result of the events of 13 October 2005 was twelve civilians, thirty-five police and law-enforcement officers and eighty-seven participants in the attack.

For a summary of the relevant domestic law, see Sabanchiyeva and Others v. Russia, no. 38450/05, §§ 33-37 and 65-90, ECHR 2013 (extracts) and Maskhadova and Others v. Russia, no. 18071/05, §§ 116-146, 6 June 2013.

For a summary of other relevant sources referred to by the applicants, see Sabanchiyeva and Others, cited above, §§ 91-96 and also Maskhadova and Others, cited above, §§ 147-150.


Violation of Article 3 - Prohibition of torture (Article 3 - Effective investigation) (Procedural aspect)

Julia Laffranque;Nebojša Vučinić;Paul Lemmens;Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström;Georges Ravarani;Ksenija Turković

The applicant, Mr Rahmi Şahin, was born in 1985 and lives in Hakkari.

On 12 December 2009 the applicant was taken into police custody on suspicion of involvement in a demonstration and subsequent clashes between some of the demonstrators and the police in Hakkari. According to the arrest report, drafted at 4.30 p.m. and signed by two police officers, the latter officers arrested the applicant at around 4 p.m. after he had attempted to escape. The report said he had also fallen over. The police officers noted that the applicant had resisted arrest and that they had used proportionate force to apprehend him. The applicant refused to sign the arrest report.

At 11.30 p.m. on the same day, an incident report was drafted and signed by thirty-seven police officers. According to that report, the Fırat News Agency, a website controlled by the PKK (Kurdish Workers’ Party, an armed illegal organisation), had published a declaration by the KCK (Koma Civakên Kurdistan – the Union of Communities in Kurdistan), containing instructions to hold meetings and marches, to start Serhildan (rebellion), and carry out acts of civil disobedience to show support for Abdullah Öcalan. As a result, on 11 December 2009, a press conference was held and around 500-550 people, including mayors and local politicians from the DTP (Party for a Democratic Society), a pro-Kurdish political party, as well as members of a number of non-governmental organisations, gathered in front of the DTP’s Hakkari office. During the press conference, the crowd chanted slogans and carried banners praising Abdullah Öcalan and the PKK. That same day, the DTP’s dissolution was ordered by the Constitutional Court and thirty-seven of its members were banned from carrying out political activities. As a result, the Fırat News Agency published another article containing instructions for further Serhildan acts and for demonstrations. According to the police report, on 11 and 12 December 2009 the security forces had intervened in several areas in the city where demonstrators had blocked the traffic, chanted slogans in favour of the PKK and its leader, and burned tyres or attacked cars, shops and administrative buildings. The report further stated that when the security forces had intervened, some demonstrators had responded by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at the police officers. According to the report on the applicant’s arrest, he had been apprehended after the police had moved against a group of 50-60 people who had been chanting slogans in favour of the PKK and its leader in the cemetery of the Biçer neighbourhood.

At 6.15 p.m. and 8.20 p.m. that day, two police officers made identical statements to two other officers. They both stated that the applicant had been with a group of people who had been chanting slogans in favour of the PKK and its leader and who had burned tyres. The group had attacked the police with stones when the police had moved against the gathering. According to their statements, the applicant had tried to flee and they had arrested him when he had fallen down, using proportionate force.

The arresting officers later identified the applicant. They submitted that the applicant had been in a group of people who had burned tyres and chanted slogans in favour of the PKK and its leader. The officers stated that they had arrested the applicant after he had attempted to avoid arrest.

At 6.33 p.m., the applicant was taken to the Hakkari state hospital for a medical examination. The doctor who examined the applicant noted the following information on a medical form:

“There is a haematoma on the left eye. [The injury] occurred three hours ago. There is no nausea or vomiting. The patient is conscious and co-operating. There is a slight swelling between the upper lip and the teeth (He stated/It was stated that it was due to a fall). There is a bruised lesion with abrasions on the lumbar area at the level of the second vertebra. A dental examination is recommended.”

On 13 December 2009 the applicant was examined by the same doctor. The findings were the same as those in the report of 12 December 2009.

On the same day, the Hakkari Magistrates’ Court decided to restrict access to the investigation file concerning the applicant and two other people.

On 14 December 2009 a lawyer from the Hakkari Bar Association was asked to assist the applicant during questioning, which took place at the anti-terrorist branch of the Hakkari police headquarters. The applicant was asked to respond to a number of questions in the presence of his lawyer, Mr F. Timur. The applicant, however, exercised his right to remain silent and did not reply to any of the questions.

On the same day, the applicant’s legal representative applied to the Hakkari Magistrate’s Court and requested that the decision to restrict his and his client’s access to the investigation file be annulled and his client be released from police custody. On 15 December 2009 the Hakkari Magistrates’ Court dismissed the request. On 16 December 2009 the Hakkari Assize Court upheld the decision of 15 December 2009.

Meanwhile, on 14 December 2009 the applicant had made a statement to the Hakkari public prosecutor. He denied any involvement in the demonstration. He stated that the disturbances in the city had meant that he and his wife had been unable to go out of their house and that on 12 December 2009 he had left home in order to buy bread. He contended that he had seen police officers approaching him and had continued to walk towards them. One of the officers had insulted him and taken him to a hill close to their neighbourhood. They had then pushed him down the hill. An officer had hit him on his right ear with a plastic tube. The applicant had then started running down the hill, where there were other officers who had thrown him to the ground, with him landing on his back, and had arrested him. He stated that he still had pain in several parts of his body, particularly around the heart. He complained to the public prosecutor that after he had been arrested, he had been put in a police vehicle and had been hit on the back, close to his armpit, with the butt of a gun. He asked the public prosecutor to find and punish the officers who had been responsible for his ill-treatment.

After the questioning, the public prosecutor ordered a medical examination of the applicant. A forensic doctor, mentioning the findings of the previous medical reports, noted an old yellow-green ecchymosis in the right (sic) periorbital area and a mucosal tear of 0.5 cm and oedema on the right side of the upper lip. The report also stated that the applicant had described pain on the left side of his chest and in the left femoral and lumbar regions. According to the report, the applicant was sensitive upon palpation in those regions. The doctor concluded that the injuries were not life-threatening and required only simple medical care.

Later that day, the applicant was brought before the Hakkari Magistrates’ Court, where he pleaded innocent and asked to be released. The applicant’s legal representative noted that his client had been beaten during his arrest and that he had not sustained the injuries noted in the medical reports as the result of a fall. The applicant was subsequently detained on remand on suspicion of membership of the PKK on account of his alleged involvement in the events of 12 December 2009.

On 16 December 2009 the applicant’s legal representative lodged an application with the Hakkari Magistrates’ Court for his client’s release. In the application, the lawyer noted that the applicant had not sustained the injuries noted in the medical reports as the result a fall, but had been beaten by police officers. The court dismissed the application the same day.

Also on that day, the applicant’s legal representative requested that the Hakkari public prosecutor provide him with copies of the documents in the investigation file, which he was authorised to receive despite the restriction order. He further requested the medical reports issued in respect of the applicant. According to the applicant’s submissions, his lawyer was only provided with the medical reports of 12 and 13 December 2009; the public prosecutor’s office failed to provide him with the report of 14 December 2009, which had been issued at the end of the applicant’s detention in police custody.

On 17 December 2009 the applicant applied to the Hakkari Magistrates’ Court for release from detention. In his application, the applicant also stated that the police officers had beaten him when they had arrested him. He contended that the officers had held him by the arms and hit him. His eyes and his mouth had been covered with blood as a result.

On 18 December 2009 the Hakkari Magistrates’ Court dismissed the application for release. In its decision, the court did not refer to the applicant’s allegations of ill-treatment.

On 28 December 2009 the applicant’s lawyer filed a complaint against the police officers who had taken part in the applicant’s arrest. He claimed that the applicant had been beaten by the police officers and that he had been taken to a hill and ordered to run towards the police officers, who had stood further down the hill and had then thrown him to the ground. He also claimed that the medical reports that had been issued were not appropriate or in compliance with internal regulations or the “Istanbul Protocol”. It was further alleged in the complaint that during their consultation in police custody, the lawyer had observed bruises around the applicant’s left eye and damage to his gums, which could have been the result of being hit on the face. The applicant’s legal representative further stated that the applicant was suffering from constant pain around the heart and chest. The lawyer requested that his client be examined by medical practitioners at the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, a nongovernmental organisation specialised in reporting torture and other types of ill-treatment. He further requested that the public prosecutor initiate an official investigation into the applicant’s allegations of ill-treatment and identify the officers who had ill-treated his client. Finally, the lawyer requested that the public prosecutor take a statement from his client in person and communicate to him the date and the time for taking such a statement.

On 17 March 2010 the Hakkari public prosecutor decided not to bring any charges in relation to the applicant’s allegations of ill-treatment. In his decision, the public prosecutor first summarised the content of the incident report dated 12 December 2009 (see paragraph 7 above). Secondly, he noted that the applicant had acted with a group of people who had chanted slogans in favour of the PKK and that he had been arrested after he had attempted to escape and had fallen. The public prosecutor noted in that respect that two police officers had identified the applicant. The public prosecutor then noted that the applicant had acted with groups of people who had blocked traffic, burned tyres, chanted slogans praising the PKK, carried out attacks with stones and Molotov cocktails, and that he had resisted the police by throwing stones when they tried to arrest him, and that he had fallen. The public prosecutor observed that although the applicant had sustained minor injuries on his face and body, he had failed to substantiate his claims that he had been beaten and insulted by the police officers. According to the public prosecutor, acts of “social terrorism” led supporters of terrorism to resist or attack the security forces, in some cases with weapons, and so members of the security forces were obliged to use force within the limits of the law. The Hakkari public prosecutor considered that the applicant had acted upon the instructions of the PKK and that it was to be expected that such people would make claims of ill-treatment. Noting that, according to section 16 of Law no. 2559 on the Duties and Powers of the Police, the police officers had the authority to use force against PKK supporters, the public prosecutor considered that the police had used proportionate force against the applicant. He also noted that there was no evidence in the case file indicating any deficiency in the medical reports drafted by the doctors. The public prosecutor concluded that the applicant’s allegations of ill-treatment were unsubstantiated.

On 31 March 2010 the applicant’s legal representative lodged an appeal against the decision of 17 March 2010. He noted, in particular, that the Hakkari public prosecutor’s assessment had been based on incorrect facts such as the “minor nature” of the applicant’s injuries and his involvement in violent acts during the events of 12 December 2009. The lawyer also noted that the public prosecutor had failed to take a statement from the applicant, to collect evidence in relation to his allegations or to identify and question the arresting police officers and potential witnesses. The lawyer also noted that the medical reports had complied with neither domestic legislation nor the “Istanbul Protocol” since they lacked details such as the applicant’s medical history, the applicant’s own account of how the injuries had been caused and an assessment regarding the cause of the injuries. He also claimed that the applicant’s medical examination had taken place in the presence of police officers.

On 13 April 2010 the Van Assize Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal. Noting that there was no evidence showing that the applicant had been subjected to ill-treatment, the assize court held that the decision of 17 March 2010 had been lawful.

The Government submitted two sets of photographs taken by the security forces with regard to the demonstrations and disturbances of 11 and 12 December 2009 in Hakkari. The first set of 374 photographs concerned the demonstrations held in Hakkari city centre, of which 14 show young men and adolescents throwing stones. The remaining photographs show people demonstrating in different parts of the city centre.

The second set of 444 photographs concerned the gatherings and disturbances in the outlying neighbourhoods of Medrese and Biçer in Hakkari. The photographs show that children, adolescents and a few young men gathered in various places in the neighbourhoods. In some photographs, the demonstrators are seen burning tyres and blocking streets. In most of the photographs, children and adolescents, mostly boys, are seen standing or walking. Four of the photographs show children standing close to soldiers, probably talking to them, while another ten show adolescents and young men standing in front of police officers. In around twenty-five of the photographs, children, adolescents and young men, some of whom have their faces covered, are seen throwing stones at an armoured police vehicle. Five pictures show police vehicles spraying demonstrators with a water cannon and tear gas.


CASE OF BEINAROVIČ AND OTHERS v. LITHUANIA

Violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Protection of property (Article 1 para. 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Peaceful enjoyment of possessions);Violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Protection of property (Article 1 para. 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Peaceful enjoyment of possessions)

Carlo Ranzoni;Egidijus Kūris;Ganna Yudkivska;Iulia Motoc;Paulo Pinto De Albuquerque;Vincent A. De Gaetano

The first applicant was born in 1915 and lived in Vilnius. The second applicant was born in 1943 and lives in Vilnius. The third applicant was born in 1932 and lives in Pagiriai in the Vilnius Region. The fourth applicant was born in 1950 and lives in Vilnius.

On various dates in 1991 the applicants or their relatives applied for restoration of their property rights to land which had been nationalised by the Soviet regime.

On 8 September 1992 the Vilnius District Court acknowledged that I.B. (the first applicant’s husband and the second applicant’s father) had a right to have his property rights to a plot of land in the village of Kryžiokai, near Vilnius, restored.

On 8 July 1993 the same court acknowledged that the fourth applicant had a right to have her property rights to a plot of land in Kryžiokai restored.

On 24 April 1996 the Seimas passed a law amending the administrative boundaries of certain municipal areas. Under that law, certain villages around Vilnius, including Kryžiokai and Vaidotai, became part of the Vilnius city municipality.

On 21 May 1998 the administrative authorities acknowledged that the third applicant had a right to have her property rights to a plot of land in Vaidotai restored.

On 20 December 2002 the Government approved a plan of forests of national importance (valstybinės reikšmės miškai) covering the whole country. It included forests situated in the former villages of Kryžiokai and Vaidotai.

On 7 May 2003 the Vilnius County Administration (hereinafter “the VCA”) restored I.B.’s property rights (see paragraph 8 above) by giving him 5.40 hectares of land in Kryžiokai. As he had died in 1992, the first applicant was issued a certificate of inheritance in respect of the plot on 27 June 2003. On 16 October 2003 she gifted it to the second applicant.

On 28 July 2008 the prosecutor of the Vilnius Region (hereinafter “the prosecutor”) lodged a claim with the Vilnius Regional Court, seeking to have I.B.’s property rights to 0.25 of the 5.40 hectares given to him annulled (see paragraph 13 above). The prosecutor submitted that, according to the data provided by the State Forest Management Service (Valstybinė miškotvarkos tarnyba), 0.25 hectares of the plot was covered by forest. Since that forest was situated in a city (see paragraph 10 above), it was considered a forest of national importance and could therefore only be owned by the State (see paragraphs 86, 88 and 89 below). The prosecutor noted that the forest had been included in the plan of forests of national importance adopted by the Government in 2002 (see paragraph 12 above), that is before the VCA had adopted its decision to give that land to I.B. In view of the circumstances, the VCA’s decision had to be declared unlawful and its effects annulled. The prosecutor asked that after annulling I.B.’s property rights to that part of the land, the first and second applicants’ property rights to it also be annulled.

The applicants disputed the prosecutor’s claim. They submitted that I.B. had acquired property rights in good faith, having lawfully participated in the restitution process carried out by the authorities, and their annulment many years later would be contrary to the principle of legal certainty. The applicants further submitted that Kryžiokai had been a rural area until 1996 (see paragraph 10 above) and the restoration of property rights had complied with the regulations concerning rural areas. They also submitted that, according to the Real Estate Register (Nekilnojamojo turto registras), their land was classified as agricultural and not forest, and the data of that Register had to be considered accurate until proven otherwise.

The VCA also disputed the prosecutor’s claim. It submitted that I.B.’s property rights had been restored in accordance with Government regulations adopted in 1998 and 2000 which had set out the rules of land reform in rural areas. The VCA argued that restoration of property rights was a continuous process and thus had to be carried out in accordance with the legislation in force when it began and not that which was adopted later. The VCA also submitted that the decision to restore I.B.’s property rights had been taken in coordination with other authorities, including the Vilnius Forest Authority (Vilniaus miškų urėdija), and they had not presented any objections.

The Ministry of Environment, which was a third party in the proceedings, asked the court to allow the prosecutor’s claim. It argued that the VCA’s decision to restore I.B.’s property rights had been contrary to mandatory statutory provisions stating that urban forests could only be owned by the State, and thus had to be annulled.

On 17 September 2009 the Vilnius Regional Court allowed the prosecutor’s claim. The court observed that the Constitution and other legislation established that forests of national importance could only be owned by the State (see paragraphs 86, 88 and 89 below). It quoted at length case-law of the Constitutional Court which emphasised the importance of forests to the environment and the obligation of the State to protect them in the public interest (see paragraphs 99-102 below).

The Vilnius Regional Court noted that the former village of Kryžiokai had become part of the Vilnius city municipality in 1996 (see paragraph 10 above). Therefore, in line with the Law on Forests, any forest in that area was urban forest (see paragraph 89 below). The court further noted that in 2002 the forest situated on the plot given to I.B. had been included in a Governmentapproved list of forests of national importance. Accordingly, when the VCA had adopted the decision to give that plot to I.B. (see paragraph 13 above), the forest situated on it had already been recognised as a forest of national importance. Therefore, the restitution had not been carried out in accordance with the law. The court held that, in such circumstances, I.B.’s and the applicants’ property rights could not take priority over the public interest and had to be annulled.

However, the court observed that, according to the Real Estate Register, the area covered by forest on the applicants’ plot amounted to 0.187 hectares and not 0.25 hectares as claimed by the prosecutor, and the data of that Register had to be considered accurate until proven otherwise. It therefore annulled I.B.’s property rights to 0.187 hectares of land, as well as the applicants’ rights to that part of the plot.

The prosecutor lodged an appeal against that decision and submitted that when determining the area covered by forest, the court should have relied on the data provided by the State Forest Management Service and not the Real Estate Register. The Ministry of Environment lodged a similar appeal.

The applicants and the VCA also lodged appeals. They argued that the VCA’s decision had complied with all the relevant legislation in force when it had been adopted, so it had to be considered lawful. They also submitted that the court had not addressed the argument that in the process of restoration of property rights Kryžiokai had to be regarded as a rural area and not a city. The applicants also submitted that the annulment of their property rights and the requirement for them to return the land to the State would cause them serious difficulties and should therefore not be implemented (see paragraph 95 below).

On 25 February 2010 the Court of Appeal upheld the appeals lodged by the prosecutor and the Ministry of Environment and dismissed those lodged by the applicants and the VCA. It reiterated that the Constitution and several laws prohibited the transfer of forests of national importance from the State into private ownership on any basis whatsoever, including restoration of property rights (see paragraphs 86 and 8891 below). Accordingly, it was immaterial that, as submitted by the VCA, its decision complied with certain regulations adopted during the restitution process. The Court of Appeal considered that the first-instance court had correctly found that the forest on the plot given to I.B. was urban forest and therefore a forest of national importance, and thus property rights in respect of that part had to be annulled. However, it stated that when determining the area covered by forest the information had to be taken not from the Real Estate Register but from the Register of Forests (Miškų kadastras), which was administered by the State Forest Management Service. According to the latter, the plot given to I.B. included 0.25 hectares of forest. The Court of Appeal therefore partly amended the decision and annulled I.B.’s property rights to 0.25 hectares of land, as well as the applicants’ rights to that part of the plot. It dismissed as unfounded the applicants’ argument that such a decision would cause them serious difficulties.

The Court of Appeal ordered the applicants and the VCA to pay the State’s legal costs.

The applicants lodged an appeal on points of law. On 25 May 2010 the Supreme Court refused to accept it for examination on the grounds that it raised no important legal issues.

On 1 September 2008 the prosecutor lodged a further claim with the Vilnius Regional Court, seeking to have I.B.’s property rights to another 1.73 hectares of the 5.40 hectares given to him annulled (see paragraph 13 above), on the grounds that it was covered by a forest of national importance, as well as to have the applicants’ property rights to that part of the plot annulled. The prosecutor presented similar arguments as in the previous proceedings (see paragraph 14 above). The applicants, the VCA and the Ministry of Environment also submitted essentially the same arguments as in the previous proceedings (see paragraphs 15-17 above).

On 13 May 2009 the Vilnius Regional Court allowed the prosecutor’s claim. It noted that the presence of forest on the plot of land given to I.B. had been confirmed by the data in the Register of Forests. It also noted that that forest was included in the list of forests of national importance created in 2002 (see paragraph 12 above). The court observed that even though restoration of property rights was a continuous process and included the preparation of various documents, the final decision to restore property rights had to comply with the law in force at the time of the adoption of that decision. It concluded that the VCA’s decision to give the plot to I.B. (see paragraph 13 above) had been contrary to the Constitution and other legislation providing that forests of national importance could only be owned by the State (see paragraphs 86, 88 and 89 below). Accordingly, it annulled I.B.’s property rights to 1.73 hectares of the land, as well as the applicants’ rights to that part of the plot. The court observed that there was no dispute that I.B. had retained the right to restoration of his property rights, and the State was thus under an obligation to restore his rights to 1.73 hectares of land.

The applicants and the VCA lodged appeals against that decision. They argued that the VCA’s decision had been based on various administrative and procedural acts according to which the forest on the applicants’ plot had not been considered a forest of national importance, and thus had been lawful. The prosecutor and the Ministry of Environment contested the appeals.

On 6 April 2010 the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeals submitted by the applicants and the VCA and upheld the decision of the first-instance court in its entirety. It stated that the first-instance court had been correct in finding that the forest on the applicants’ plot was a forest of national importance and could thus only belong to the State.

The applicants lodged an appeal on points of law. On 9 July 2010 the Supreme Court refused to accept it for examination on the grounds that it raised no important legal issues.

According to the Government, on 11 May 2010 the VCA informed the applicants that there was no possibility of restitution in kind because there was no vacant land in the relevant area. According to the applicants, on 19 October 2010 they sent a letter to the National Land Service (the institution which took over the relevant functions of the VCA after an administrative reform hereinafter “the NLS”) stating that they were of advanced age and did not “have the energy or state of health to look for vacant land in the Vilnius area”. Copies of the VCA’s and the applicants’ letters have not been submitted to the Court.

On 23 February 2012 the applicants received a letter from the NLS confirming that, after the courts had annulled I.B.’s property rights to 1.98 hectares of land, he had retained the right to have those property rights restored. It also stated that there was no more vacant land in the former village of Kryžiokai and that I.B.’s property rights could be restored by: (i) assigning a plot of land or forest equal in value to the land held previously; (ii) providing securities; (iii) discharging liabilities to the State; (iv) transferring, free of charge, a new plot of land equal in value to the land held previously for the construction of an individual home in the city or rural area where the previously held land was situated; or (v) providing monetary compensation (see paragraph 92 below). The applicants, as I.B.’s heirs, were asked to inform the authorities of their choice as to the form of restitution. It is unclear whether the applicants replied to this letter.

On 24 July 2012 the applicants received another letter from the NLS which again confirmed that, after the courts had annulled I.B.’s property rights to 1.98 hectares of land, he had retained the right to have those property rights restored. It stated that there was a possibility for the applicants to receive a plot of land for the construction of an individual home in the Vilnius city area but as there were 4,806 other candidates waiting to receive plots in the area, the restitution process would take a long time. The applicants were asked to consider an alternative form of restitution, such as a plot of land in a rural area, a plot of land for the construction of an individual home in a different city, or monetary compensation (see paragraph 92 below). They were also informed that there remained about 0.10 hectares of vacant land in the former village of Kryžiokai, so if they wished to receive a plot in that area, their request would be considered when the land plan was being prepared.

On 21 August 2012 the applicants sent a letter to the NLS. They submitted that the annulment of their property rights to 1.98 hectares of land had caused them pecuniary damage in the amount of 331,000 Lithuanian litai (LTL approximately 95,900 euros (EUR)), according to an assessment of the value of the land carried out in May 2012. In the applicants’ view, being put on the list with 4,806 other candidates and being made to wait for an undetermined period of time for restitution was unacceptable. The applicants asked to be allocated a plot of land for the construction of an individual home in Vilnius in the order of priority, and if that was not possible, to be informed how many plots were available in Vilnius and when they might expect to receive one. They also stated that they would agree to receive a plot of land in Kryžiokai but would first want to know its exact location. The applicants stated that they did not wish to choose any other form of restitution.

On 14 December 2012 the NLS approved the list of candidates to receive plots of land in several areas around Vilnius. The applicants were included in that list as candidates to receive 1.98 hectares of land. On 31 December 2012 the NLS held a meeting in which candidates were offered plots in the relevant areas. The second applicant took part in that meeting and chose three plots, measuring a total of 0.3627 hectares. She was offered more plots but refused them because there were electricity installations on them. The minutes of the meeting, approved by the NLS, stated that the next meeting of candidates would be held on 16 April 2013 and those who had not chosen their plots yet, including the second applicant, would be invited to participate. The Court was not provided with any information as to whether that meeting took place, whether the applicants were invited to attend and whether they did so.

On 21 August 2014 the NLS adopted a land plan of the aforementioned areas around Vilnius, as well as the list of individuals who would be allocated plots in those areas. The applicants were included in the list and were entitled to receive four plots of land, measuring a total of 0.4035 hectares.

On 7 October 2015 the first applicant died. The second applicant was issued a certificate of inheritance on 3 August 2016.

On 29 January 2016 the NLS adopted a decision to restore I.B.’s property rights by giving him five plots of agricultural land, measuring a total of 0.7883 hectares. The decision stated that the rights to the remaining 1.1917 hectares would be restored later.

On 26 April 2016 the NLS approved the list of candidates to receive plots of land in several other areas around Vilnius. I.B. was included in that list as a candidate to receive 1.1917 hectares of land. On 18 May 2016 the NLS held a meeting in which candidates were offered plots in those areas. The second applicant took part in that meeting and chose two plots, measuring a total of 0.18 hectares. It does not appear that she was offered any more plots in that meeting.

On 31 August 2017 the NLS adopted a land plan of several areas around Vilnius, as well as the list of individuals who would be allocated plots in those areas. I.B. was included in the list and was entitled to receive two plots of land, amounting to a total of 0.18 hectares.

According to the latest information provided to the Court, the first and second applicants’ property rights to 1.1917 hectares of land have still not been restored.

On 6 April 2004 the VCA restored the third applicant’s property rights by giving her and another candidate, G.D., joint ownership of 0.52 hectares of agricultural land and 2.12 hectares of forest in Vaidotai. The third applicant’s share of the jointly owned forest was one hectare.

On 9 April 2009 the prosecutor lodged a claim with the Vilnius City Second District Court, seeking to have the applicant’s and G.D.’s property rights to the 2.12 hectares of forest annulled (see paragraph 41 above). The prosecutor submitted that the forest was situated in a city (see paragraph 10 above) and was thus considered a forest of national importance which could only be owned by the State (see paragraphs 86, 88 and 89 below). The prosecutor noted that the forest in question had been included in the plan of forests of national importance adopted by the Government in 2002 (see paragraph 12 above), that is before the VCA had adopted its decision to give that forest to the applicant and G.D. Accordingly, the VCA’s decision had to be declared unlawful and its effects annulled.

The applicant disputed the prosecutor’s claim. She submitted that the VCA’s decision to give the forest to her and G.D. had been taken in line with the law in force at the material time and in coordination with the relevant authorities, including the Vilnius Forest Authority. The applicant also argued that, in line with the case-law of the Constitutional Court, forests which belonged to private individuals and were subsequently declared to be of national importance did not have to be taken into State ownership, as owners’ rights could be restricted in order to protect the forest. She therefore asked the court to protect her property rights.

The VCA also disputed the prosecutor’s claim. It submitted that the restoration of property rights to the land in the former village of Vaidotai had been carried out in line with the regulations applicable to rural areas. It also submitted that the decision to give the forest in question to the applicant and G.D. had been based on several administrative acts adopted in 2000, and so the decision could not be annulled as long as those acts remained in force.

The Ministry of Environment, which was a third party in the proceedings, asked the court to allow the prosecutor’s claim. It argued that at the time when the VCA had adopted the decision to give the forest to the applicant and G.D., the forest had officially been urban forest (see paragraph 10 above) and had been included in the list of forests of national importance (see paragraph 12 above). Accordingly, the VCA’s decision had been contrary to mandatory statutory provisions (see paragraphs 86, 88 and 89 below) and had to be annulled.

On 4 March 2009 the Vilnius City Second District Court allowed the prosecutor’s claim. It reiterated that, in line with the Constitution and the Law on Forests, urban forests were considered forests of national importance and could only belong to the State (see paragraphs 86, 88 and 89 below). The court also emphasised the importance of forests to the environment and the obligation of the State to protect them in the public interest. It then noted that the former village of Vaidotai had become part of the Vilnius city municipality in 1996 (see paragraph 10 above), so any forests within that area were urban forests. The court also observed that the forest given to the applicant and G.D. had been included in the list of forests of national importance approved by the Government in 2002 (see paragraph 12 above). Accordingly, the VCA’s decision to give that forest to the applicant and G.D. had been adopted after the forest had already become a forest of national importance (see paragraph 41 above). The court held that it was immaterial whether other administrative acts on which the VCA’s decision had been based remained valid (see paragraph 44 above) because property rights had been restored to the applicant and G.D. by that decision and not by any other acts. The court therefore annulled the applicant’s and G.D.’s property rights to the 2.12 hectares of forest.

The applicant and the VCA lodged appeals against that decision, raising essentially the same arguments as before (see paragraphs 43 and 44 above). In addition, the applicant submitted that her property rights to the forest in question had been challenged four years after it had been given to her, and thus she had lost the opportunity to have her property rights restored because there was almost no vacant land left in Vilnius or the surrounding area.

On 13 August 2009 the Vilnius Regional Court dismissed the appeals and upheld the first-instance court’s decision in its entirety. It considered that that court had been correct in finding that the forest in question was a forest of national importance and that the VCA’s decision had thus been contrary to mandatory statutory provisions prohibiting the transfer of such forests into the ownership of private individuals. In response to the applicant’s argument that she had lost the opportunity to have her property rights restored (see paragraph 47 above), the Vilnius Regional Court stated that Lithuanian law provided for partial restitution, and that where it was impossible to restore property rights in natura, it could be done in other ways, including by monetary compensation (see paragraphs 92 and 97 below). Therefore, the court considered that the applicant had retained the right to have her property rights restored in one of the forms provided for by law.

The applicant and the VCA lodged appeals on points of law, relying on essentially the same arguments as before (see paragraphs 43, 44 and 47 above). In addition, the applicant submitted that she had acquired the property in good faith and that ordering her to return it to the State would cause her serious difficulties (see paragraph 95 below). She argued that she could no longer receive a plot in the same area because there was no more vacant land there and that she would not receive fair compensation either because property prices had decreased. The applicant submitted that the public interest to protect forests could be achieved in other ways, such as by imposing on her special conditions for use of the forest.

On 5 February 2010 the Supreme Court dismissed the appeals on points of law and upheld the findings of the lower courts. It observed that restoring property rights to forests in valuable areas had been prohibited since the beginning of the restitution process in Lithuania. Accordingly, individuals could not have a legitimate expectation to acquire property rights to such forests. It also stated that the VCA, as the institution in charge of restoration of property rights, was under an obligation to ensure that its decisions complied with all relevant legislation adopted throughout the entirety of the restitution process.

The Supreme Court reiterated that when a transaction was annulled, the parties had to return to one another everything that they had received from that transaction (see paragraph 94 below). It stated that the lower courts had not identified any exceptional circumstances why that rule should not be applied in the present case, nor had the applicant pointed to any such circumstances. The Supreme Court noted that the applicant had retained the right to have her property rights restored in accordance with the law, so her argument that she would experience serious difficulties (see paragraph 49 above) had to be dismissed as unfounded.

On 7 April 2010 the applicant sent a letter to the VCA seeking to be given a plot of land in the former village of Vaidotai. On 11 May 2010 the VCA informed the applicant that there was no vacant land in Vaidotai and asked her to choose another form of restitution (see paragraph 92 below).

On 29 October 2010 the applicant sent a letter to the NLS stating that she was 78 years old and did not “have the energy or the state of health to participate in the complicated restitution process for a second time”. The applicant stated that she had lost her property because of the unlawful actions of the VCA, therefore the NLS, as the VCA’s successor, had to compensate her for the pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage which she had sustained. She asked the NLS to provide her with a list of plots of land equal in value in the Vilnius city area to which her property rights could be restored.

On 13 December 2010 the NLS informed the applicant that, in accordance with the law, her property rights could be restored by assigning her a plot of land equal in value to the land held previously or by providing securities, but that there was no possibility of her receiving a plot of land for the construction of an individual home in a city. The letter provided the address of a website on which the applicant could find information about vacant plots of land, and she was asked to submit a request to the municipal authorities indicating the area in which she wished to receive a plot equal in value. It was also stated that if she was dissatisfied with the response given, she could lodge a complaint with the director of the NLS.

On 16 December 2011 the applicant sent a request to the NLS for compensation in securities. On 1 February 2012 she received a reply informing her that compensation in the form of securities was temporarily unavailable.

On 6 March 2012 the applicant submitted a request for a plot of land for the construction of an individual home in the town of Trakai. On 30 May 2012 in a letter to the NLS she reiterated her wish to receive a plot in Trakai and stated that she also wished to receive a plot of land in Vilnius, but did not wish to have her property rights restored by monetary compensation.

On 23 July 2012 the NLS sent a letter to the applicant confirming that, after the courts had annulled her property rights to one hectare of land (see paragraph 41 above), she had retained the right to have those property rights restored. She could be given a plot of land for the construction of an individual home in Vilnius or Trakai, but there were many other candidates waiting to receive plots in those areas (4,806 and 94 respectively, and the land plan for Trakai had not been prepared yet), therefore the restitution process would take a long time. She was asked to consider an alternative form of restitution, such as a plot of land in a rural area, a plot of land for the construction of an individual home in a different city or monetary compensation. She was also informed that there remained some vacant land in the former village of Vaidotai, so if she wished to receive a plot in that area, her request would be considered when the land plan was being prepared.

It is unclear whether the applicant replied to that letter or submitted any requests concerning the form of restoration of her property rights.

On 7 October 2013 the NLS approved the list of candidates to receive plots of land in several areas around Vilnius. The applicant was included in that list as a candidate to receive 1.12 hectares of land. On 9 October 2013 she was sent an invitation to attend a meeting of candidates on 22 October 2013. She did not take part in that meeting. On 24 October 2013 she was sent an invitation to attend a meeting of candidates on 6 November 2013. She did not take part.

The applicant submitted to the Court that she had not been informed of those meetings.

On 5 April 2016 the NLS approved the list of candidates to receive plots of land in several other areas around Vilnius. The applicant was included in that list as a candidate to receive 1.12 hectares of land. On 22 April 2016 the NLS held a meeting of candidates to receive plots of land in those areas. Her representative took part in the meeting but did not provide a form of authority.

On 17 May 2016 the NLS held another meeting of candidates to receive plots of land in the aforementioned areas. The applicant participated in that meeting but did not choose any of the plots offered to her. The minutes of the meeting do not indicate the reasons for her refusal.

The applicant submitted to the Court that the plots offered to her had had electricity installations on them and had therefore been “worthless”.

According to the latest information provided to the Court, the third applicant’s property rights to one hectare of land have still not been restored.

On 10 December 2003 the VCA restored the fourth applicant’s property rights by giving her 2.67 hectares of land in the villages of Kryžiokai and Naujaneriai. On 25 April 2005 she sold 1.5 hectares of the land given to her in Kryžiokai to another individual, J.S., for LTL 495,000 (approximately EUR 143,400). The sale agreement was certified by a notary.

On 15 December 2008 the prosecutor lodged a claim with the Vilnius Regional Court, seeking to have the applicant’s property rights to 0.15 of the 2.67 hectares given to her annulled (see paragraph 62 above). The prosecutor submitted that, according to the data provided by the State Forest Management Service, the 0.15 hectares were covered by forest. Since it was situated in a city (see paragraph 10 above), it was considered a forest of national importance and could thus only be owned by the State (see paragraphs 86, 88 and 89 below). The prosecutor asked that after annulling the applicant’s property rights, the sale agreement between her and J.S. be annulled in respect of that part of the land.

The applicant disputed the prosecutor’s claim. She submitted that there had not been any forest on the land before its nationalisation, and if a forest had grown there afterwards, that should not preclude the restoration of her property rights. She also submitted that she had not acted unlawfully, so the property could not be taken from her. The applicant argued that if authorities or officials had acted unlawfully, the State should have to buy the land from her, and that the public interest should be protected without prejudice to her rights.

The VCA also disputed the claim. It argued that the applicant’s property rights had been restored in accordance with the legislation in force at the material time, and that the decision had been taken in coordination with various authorities, including the Ministry of Environment and the Vilnius Forest Authority, which had not presented any objections.

The Ministry of Environment, which was a third party in the proceedings, supported the prosecutor’s claim.

On 29 March 2010 the Vilnius Regional Court allowed the prosecutor’s claim. It observed that even though the Real Estate Register did not contain information about the presence of forest on the applicant’s land, it had been proven by the data provided by the State Forest Management Service. The court reiterated that forests of national importance could only be owned by the State (see paragraphs 86, 88 and 89 below), and that forests situated in cities were considered forests of national importance, irrespective of whether they had been officially designated as such (see paragraph 102 below). It observed that the former village of Kryžiokai had become part of the Vilnius city municipality in 1996 (see paragraph 10 above). Accordingly, the court held that the VCA’s decision to restore the applicant’s property rights had been unlawful and had to be annulled.

Finding that the applicant had not had a right to acquire the 0.15 hectares of land in question, the Vilnius Regional Court held that, consequently, she had had no right to sell the land, and thus the sale agreement between her and J.S. in the relevant part also had to be annulled. In accordance with the Civil Code, J.S. was ordered to return 0.15 hectares of land to the State, and the applicant was ordered to return LTL 49,500 (approximately EUR 14,340) to J.S. (see paragraph 94 below). The court noted that the applicant had retained the right to restoration of her property rights, and that the restitution process had to be “continued at the expense of the VCA or its successor, by finalising (and not starting afresh), in the same order of priority, the restitution process that had already begun”. It accepted the applicant’s argument that she might face financial difficulties as a result of having to return money to J.S. because she no longer had the necessary amount. The court gave the applicant six months from the date on which the decision became final to return the money to J.S. It observed that it had no authority to directly order the VCA to complete the restoration of the applicant’s property rights within that period of time, but that “the activity of the VCA or its successor in the restitution process could constitute grounds for reducing the possible expenses of that institution, if [the applicant and J.S.] were found to have suffered losses as a result of unlawful acts established in the present decision ... and had to be compensated”.

The applicant lodged an appeal against that decision, presenting essentially the same arguments as before (see paragraph 64 above). She also argued that the order to pay the money to J.S. should not have been imposed on her but on the VCA, since it was the latter which had acted unlawfully.

On 7 February 2011 the Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s appeal and upheld the decision of the first-instance court in its entirety. The court stressed that forests of national importance could not be transferred into private ownership on any basis whatsoever, including restitution of nationalised property (see paragraph 101 below). It stated that the institutions responsible for adopting decisions on restoration of property rights had to verify whether all the conditions for restitution provided by law were complied with and, when deciding to restore property rights in natura, whether the property in question was not a type which could only belong to the State. Accordingly, the VCA, when adopting the decision to restore the applicant’s property rights, had been under an obligation to verify whether that decision complied with the law in force at the time of its adoption.

The Court of Appeal held that the finding that the applicant’s property rights had been restored in contravention of the law enabled it to consider that she had acquired those property rights in bad faith (nesąžininga įgijėja). It stated that the applicant and J.S. “could not be considered bona fide acquirers merely because the land in question had become private property as a result of a decision adopted by a public authority”. It also stated that when an individual knew or ought to have known that an administrative decision might be contrary to the law, he or she could not rely on his or her good faith.

The Court of Appeal further observed that even though the unlawful restoration of property rights had been the result of a decision adopted by the VCA, under the law it was not possible to order the VCA, and not the applicant, to return the money paid for the plot in question to J.S. (see paragraph 69 above). The court considered that requiring J.S. to return the plot to the State and the applicant to return the money to J.S. would not cause “serious difficulties for the defendants” (see paragraph 95 below). It also reiterated that the applicant had retained the right to restoration of her property rights in one of the forms provided for by law.

The applicant lodged an appeal on points of law. On 29 March 2011 the Supreme Court refused to accept it for examination on the grounds that it raised no important legal issues.

On 25 October 2011 the applicant paid LTL 49,500 to J.S.

On 23 February 2012 the applicant received a letter from the NLS confirming that she had retained the right to have her property rights to 0.15 hectares of land restored. It stated that there was no more vacant land in Kryžiokai and that her property rights could be restored by: (i) assigning a plot of land or forest equal in value to the land held previously; (ii) providing securities; (iii) discharging liabilities to the State; (iv) transferring, free of charge, a new plot of land equal in value to the land held previously for the construction of an individual home in the city or rural area where the previously held land was situated; or (v) providing monetary compensation (see paragraph 92 below). The applicant was asked to inform the authorities of her choice as to the form of restitution.

On 7 March 2012 the applicant sent a letter to the NLS stating that she had suffered pecuniary damage in the amount of LTL 49,500 as a result of the actions of the authorities. The applicant expressed her wish to be given a plot of land of 0.15 hectares, and if the value of that plot was lower than LTL 49,500, that the difference be paid to her as damages.

On 24 July 2012 the applicant received another letter from the NLS. It stated that there was a possibility of her receiving a plot of land for the construction of an individual home in the Vilnius city area but as there were 4,806 other candidates waiting to receive plots in that area, the restitution would take a long time. The applicant was asked to consider an alternative form of restitution, such as a plot of land in a rural area, a plot of land for the construction of an individual home in a different city or monetary compensation. She was also informed that there was a possibility for her to receive land in Kryžiokai, so if she wished to receive a plot in that area, her request would be considered when the land plan had been prepared.

On 21 August 2012 the applicant sent a letter to the NLS. She reiterated that the annulment of her property rights to 0.15 hectares of land had caused her pecuniary damage in the amount of LTL 49,500. In her view, being put on the list with 4,806 other candidates and being made to wait for an undetermined period of time for restitution was unacceptable. The applicant asked to be allocated a plot of land for the construction of an individual home in Vilnius in the order of priority, and if that was not possible, to be informed how many plots were available in Vilnius and when she might expect to receive one. If she could not be given such a plot, she wished to receive compensation of LTL 49,500. The applicant stated that she did not wish to choose any other form of restitution.

On 14 December 2012 the NLS approved the list of candidates to receive plots of land in several areas around Vilnius. The applicant was included in that list as a candidate to receive 0.15 hectares of land. On 31 December 2012 the NLS held a meeting in which candidates were offered plots in the relevant areas. The applicant took part in that meeting. According to the minutes of the meeting approved by the NLS and signed by the applicant, she refused the plot which was offered to her and stated that she wished to wait for the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in her case.

On 26 April 2016 the NLS approved the list of candidates to receive plots of land in several other areas around Vilnius. The applicant was included in that list as a candidate to receive 0.15 hectares of land.

On 27 April 2016 the NLS sent a letter to the applicant inviting her to attend a meeting of candidates on 18 May 2016 in which she would be offered a plot. The applicant did not take part in that meeting.

On 18 May 2016 the NLS sent a letter to the applicant inviting her to attend a meeting of candidates on 1 June 2016 in which she would be offered a plot. It is unclear whether the applicant took part in that meeting.

According to the latest information provided to the Court, the fourth applicant’s property rights to 0.15 hectares of land have still not been restored.


Violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Civil proceedings;Article 6-1 - Reasonable time)

The applicant was born in 1971 and lives in Balástya.

On 11 July 2008 the applicant’s divorced wife brought an action against him seeking the termination of his custody rights.

On 29 June 2011 the Pest Central District Court rearranged the applicant’s access rights and dismissed the remainder of the action. The court relied in particular on the opinion of an expert psychologist.

On 4 July 2012 the Budapest High Court upheld this judgment (service: 3 September 2012).


CASE OF EUROATLANTIC AIRWAYS - TRANSPORTES AÉREOS, S.A. v. PORTUGAL

The applicant is a Portuguese airline company headquartered in Sintra.

On 20 April 2009 the applicant instituted civil proceedings in the Lisbon Civil Court against the company for the alleged failure to comply with the contract.

On 28 July 2009 the plaintiff lodged its submissions in reply (contestação).

On 30 September 2009 the applicant lodged new submissions in reply (réplica) and on 22 October 2009 the plaintiff submitted new submissions (tréplica).

On 28 May 2010 the Lisbon Civil Court held a preliminary hearing aiming at a friendly settlement of the parties. The conciliation procedure was not possible and on the same day the plaintif submitted an additional pleading (articulado superveniente) to which the applicant replied on 7 June 2010. On 18 June and on 30 June 2010 the plaintiff and the applicant lodged new submissions in reply, respectively.

On 12 July 2010 a second preliminary hearing was held and the judge gave directions setting out the matters that had already been established and those that remained outstanding (despacho saneador).

On 21 July and 8 September 2010 the parties submitted their evidence.

On 2 February 2011 the court held the first hearing. Between 2 February 2011 and 30 June 2011 the Lisbon Civil Court listed fifteen hearings. During this period, both parties submitted several documents to the court, some of which in a foreign language.

On 3 October 2011 the Lisbon Civil Court adopted a decision with regard to the factual basis (matéria de facto). On 13 October and on 25 October 2011, both the applicant and the plaintiff submitted their allegations of law, respectively.

On 19 July 2012 the Lisbon Civil Court rendered a judgment in which it ruled against the applicant and annulled the contract.

On 1 October 2012 the applicant appealed against the first-instance judgment and on 31 October 2012 the plaintiff submitted its allegations.

On 13 February 2014 the Lisbon Court of Appeal ruled partially in favour of the applicant.

On 20 March 2014 the applicant appealed against the decision before the Supreme Court of Justice and on 28 April 2014 the plaintiff lodged a cross-appeal.

On 7 October 2014 the Supreme Court of Justice adopted a judgment in favour of the applicant.


Violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Civil proceedings;Article 6-1 - Public hearing)

André Potocki;Angelika Nußberger;Carlo Ranzoni;Ganna Yudkivska;Khanlar Hajiyev;Nicolas Bratza;Yonko Grozev

The applicant was born in 1924 and lives in Cologne. His father was a pharmaceutical entrepreneur who had owned property in the Soviet Occupied Zone of Germany which was subject to expropriation measures in 1946 and 1947, after an administrative body classified him as a “Nazi activist”, “Nazi criminal” and “person profiting from the war”. After Germany’s reunification, the applicant’s application for restitution of the property under the Property Act (Vermögensgesetz) proved unsuccessful.

In 2006 the applicant initiated proceedings under the Criminal Rehabilitation Act (Strafrechtliches Rehabilitierungsgesetz) on behalf of his late father. He claimed that the expropriation and other measures had a penal character, although his father’s guilt had been determined not by a court but by an administrative body. He submitted a vast number of documents, claiming that the historical background of the measures taken under the Soviet occupation command had to be evaluated anew. In particular, the 1946 and 1947 provisions on which the measures against his father had been taken could now be qualified as criminal prosecution. New research had shown that their objective was to punish individual Germans for alleged wrongdoing. The applicant requested, inter alia, that the 1946 decisions to find his father guilty of being a Nazi and the subsequent decisions to expropriate him and confiscate his personal property and the property belonging to his company be declared contrary to the rule of law and hence void. According to the applicant, the value of his restitution claims amounted to about ninety million euros.

On 26 June 2008 the Dresden Regional Court fixed a public hearing for 19 August 2008, as requested by the applicant.

On 21 July 2008 the applicant’s lawyers published a press release under the following title:

“Turnaround in the assessment of the Communist industrial reform? For the first time the Dresden Regional Court discusses a criminal rehabilitation application at an oral hearing.”

In the press release the lawyers explained, in particular, that until that time the domestic courts had seen the objective of the measures in question as motivated by economic policy, that is, having the purpose of modifying the prevailing ownership structure. They presented the fact that the Regional Court had fixed an oral hearing as a potential turning point in domestic case-law and announced that they would explain orally and in detail at the hearing what the so-called “economic reform” had really been about. At the same time they communicated the date, time and place of the hearing.

On 8 August 2008 the Regional Court cancelled the hearing foreseen for 19 August and set a time-limit for written procedure ending on 15 September 2008. It found that, according to section 11 § 3, first sentence, of the Criminal Rehabilitation Act, a decision should generally be taken without holding an oral discussion. The date for a hearing, according to section 11 § 3, second sentence, of the Criminal Rehabilitation Act (see paragraph 13 below) had been set to give the applicant the opportunity to illustrate (erläutern) his legal opinion, which conflicted with that of the Regional Court and the Dresden Court of Appeal and was supported by particularly extensive factual submissions. Making use of its margin of appreciation, the Regional Court refrained from holding a hearing since, contrary to its prior opinion, there was no longer any additional benefit to be gained for dealing with the case. In fact, the scheduling of the hearing had been used to create the impression in a press release, also published on the internet, that by calling a hearing the Regional Court had indicated that it was abandoning its settled case-law. Furthermore, the press release had announced that the applicant would use the hearing to “reveal an important part of contemporary history”. This indicated that the hearing was to be used as a public forum. Against this background, the court refrained from holding a hearing.

On 24 August 2009, following unsuccessful claims by the applicant that the judges were biased, the Regional Court rejected the applicant’s request. It held that the measures taken against the applicant’s father were not of a penal character. The expropriation measures did not result in further consequences to his detriment. Contrary to the applicant’s submission, nothing indicated that an arrest warrant had been issued in 1947. The applicant’s father’s loss of his electoral rights, his business licence and his personal assets had been a necessary consequence of the expropriation.

On 26 November 2010 the Dresden Court of Appeal, without holding an oral hearing, dismissed the applicant’s appeal, fully endorsing the Regional Court’s reasons. It added that the documents submitted proved neither the penal character of the measures in question nor that there had been an arrest warrant. An oral hearing was not necessary as the documents presented were sufficient for the case to be assessed.

By decision of 19 November 2013 the Federal Constitutional Court, without providing reasons, declined to consider the applicant’s constitutional complaint, in which he had alleged violations of his right to an effective remedy, his right to be heard and his personality rights (file no. 2 BvR 1511/11).


Violation of Article 6+6-3-c - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Criminal proceedings;Article 6-1 - Fair hearing) (Article 6 - Right to a fair trial;Article 6-3-c - Defence through legal assistance)

André Potocki;Angelika Nußberger;Mārtiņš Mits;Yonko Grozev;Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer

The applicant was born in 1972 and is currently detained at Varna Prison.

Before the events at issue, he had several previous convictions for theft.

A seventy-five-year-old lady, a neighbour of the applicant’s parents, was murdered in her house in Varna on the morning of 18 June 2006, and a number of her personal possessions were stolen from the house. The applicant was suspected of having committed the offence and a search order was issued in respect of him.

On the morning of 21 June 2006 the applicant was arrested. He had been hiding in an abandoned house in a neighbouring village. The police report on his arrest stated that he had “slightly” resisted the arrest, and that force had been used in order to take him out of his hiding place (under a bed) and handcuff him.

The applicant was taken to the police station in the nearby town of Valchi Dol, where, at 11.30 a.m., an order for his arrest was issued under section 63(1) of the Ministry of the Interior Act 2006 (see paragraph 26 below). The applicant signed a declaration stating that he wanted to be assisted by a lawyer and that he had liver and stomach pains, due to “past ailments”, and wished to be examined by a doctor.

Later in the day, two police officers from Varna, Z.K. and V.V., arrived in Valchi Dol. They had a conversation with the applicant, during which he confessed, according to him under physical duress, to having committed the murder and described his actions in the days preceding his arrest. In addition, he confessed to having stolen a gun and other personal possessions from another house on an earlier occasion. The confession was written down and was signed by the applicant and Officer V.V.

Later on that same day the applicant was transferred to the police station in Varna, where he asked to be examined by a doctor. The examination started at about 8 p.m. The doctor identified bruises and haematomas on the applicant’s right elbow, right flank, buttocks and wrists, which had been caused by hard, blunt objects less than twenty-four hours earlier.

On 22 June 2006 an investigator brought charges against the applicant in relation to another offence, an unrelated theft, and a prosecutor ordered his detention for up to seventy-two hours. On 23 June 2006 the Varna District Court ordered the applicant’s detention on remand in connection with that charge. The criminal proceedings concerning that charge proceeded alongside the proceedings which are the subject of this application, and were completed in March 2007.

The murder investigation, to which the investigation into the alleged theft of a gun and other personal possessions mentioned in the applicant’s confession to Officers Z.K. and V.V. was joined, continued over the months which followed. The police gathered further evidence and witness testimony, some of which was identified on the basis of that confession. They never found the objects stolen from the victim’s house. On 18 December 2006 an investigator brought charges against the applicant in connection with the two offences mentioned above. On that occasion the applicant had a lawyer, retained by him on the same day. The applicant made a brief statement that he was not guilty.

On an unspecified date in 2007 the applicant was indicted and taken to court.

The Varna Regional Court (hereinafter “the Regional Court”), which examined the case at first instance, held its first hearing on 25 June 2007. It heard the doctor who had examined the applicant on the evening of 21 June 2006 (see paragraph 12 above). She stated that she maintained the opinions expressed in her previous report, and the prosecution and the defence posed no further questions. Officers Z.K. and V.V. were examined as witnesses and recounted their conversation with the applicant on 21 June 2006 and the confession he had made to them. They replied to questions posed by the prosecution and the defence. The applicant’s father was examined as well, and he stated that he had visited his son about ten days after his arrest. The applicant had told him that he had been beaten in order to confess, and some traces of this beating had still been visible on him. The Regional Court heard other experts and witnesses.

During the next hearing, held on 3 October 2007, the applicant made a statement on the charges. He said that he had not committed the offences, as at the time of the murder he had been at his grandmother’s house in another village, and that he had confessed to the offences under duress.

On 11 February 2008 the Regional Court examined more witnesses and then the parties made oral submissions. Counsel for the applicant contested the testimony of Z.K. and V.V. in particular, arguing that their examination had been contrary to Article 118 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (see paragraph 31 below). He pointed out moreover that, while the applicant had made a confession to those two officers, he had not repeated that confession when taken before an investigator. At the same time, the confession was one of “the pillars” of the indictment, as there was no other evidence showing the course of the events inside the victim’s house.

In a judgment given on 11 February 2008 the Regional Court convicted the applicant and sentenced him to life imprisonment. On the basis of the evidence collected, it concluded that the applicant had stolen a gun and other personal possessions several days before the murder, and on the day of the murder had entered the victim’s house in order to steal food. When she had surprised him in the house, he had attacked her, hitting her with the gun stolen earlier – in such a way that a part of the gun’s cock had broken off and fallen to the floor – and with an axe which he had found in the house. After the murder the applicant had run away. A stranger had given him a lift to another village, but the applicant had forgotten a bag containing his clothes and the gun in the stranger’s car.

In establishing the facts, the Regional Court relied on the following most important pieces of evidence: a metal fragment which had been found under the victim’s body and which the experts confirmed to be the missing part of the cock of the gun; traces of the victim’s blood found on the handle of the gun found in the applicant’s bag; the testimony of the person who had given the applicant a lift in his car and had found that bag; the fact that that person had also recognised the applicant’s photo when it had been shown to him by the police; and the testimony of Officers Z.K. and V.V., who had recounted what the applicant had confessed to them with regard to the course of the events in the victim’s house. As to the officers’ testimony, the Regional Court pointed out that it considered it credible, since the confession as recounted by them had enabled the police to continue the investigation and identify further evidence.

The applicant lodged an appeal.

In his written and oral submissions to the Varna Court of Appeal (hereinafter “the Court of Appeal”), counsel for the applicant contested once again the testimony given by Z.K. and V.V. He argued that the Regional Court had not commented on the evidence showing that the applicant had been beaten in order to make the confession the officers had recounted, pointed out that the confession had not been repeated once the applicant had been taken before an investigator, and relied again on Article 118 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

In a judgment of 30 May 2008 the Court of Appeal upheld the applicant’s conviction and sentence, finding that his guilt had been proved beyond reasonable doubt. In addition to the evidence described above, it relied on the testimony of a neighbour of the victim, who had seen a person considered to be the applicant on the roof of the victim’s house shortly before the murder. As to Z.K. and V.V., the Court of Appeal pointed out that they had not been investigating bodies within the meaning of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and that their testimony had been assessed in the light of all other evidence. Furthermore, it commented on the exonerating evidence, in particular expert reports finding no fingerprints of the applicant and no traces of his scent in the victim’s house, saying that this was not sufficient to refute the accusations.

The applicant lodged an appeal on points of law. His counsel contested once again the testimony of Officers Z.K. and V.V., pointing out that the lower courts had not commented on the evidence showing that the applicant had been beaten in order to confess. Moreover, the officers’ testimony had been given in breach of Article 118 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

In a final judgment of 13 November 2008 the Supreme Court of Cassation upheld the Court of Appeal’s judgment. As to the arguments of the defence concerning the testimony of Z.K. and V.V., it observed that the confession as recounted by the officers contained details which could only have been known to the perpetrator of the crimes at issue, and thus could not have been “instigated”. Moreover, allowing Z.K. and V.V. to testify had not been in breach of Article 118 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.