PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 17582/04) against the Republic of Turkey lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Turkish national, Mr Eyüp Kaya (“the applicant”), on 26 April 2004.

The applicant was represented by Mr M. Timur, a lawyer practising in Van. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.

On 18 September 2007 the Court decided to give notice of the application to the Government. It also decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility (Article 29 § 3).

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1980 and lives in Van.

On 29 August 2000 the applicant was admitted to the military service.

On 7 September 2001 he went to see a doctor at the Sivas Military Hospital for an eye-sight problem. His medical report stated that he had ‑ 6, 25 of myopia (nearsightedness), +0,25 of hyperopia (farsightedness) and – 6,75 of anisometropia amblyopia (difference in refractive error between the two eyes leading to reduced vision in one eye) on his left eye. The report noted that the applicant had complained that he had had the problem on his left eye since childhood. Accordingly, the applicant was discharged from the military as he was no longer eligible for service.

On 17 March 2003, the applicant applied to both, the Retired Civil Servant’s Fund for a pension and to the Compensation Commission at the Ministry of the Interior for compensation. Both requests were rejected.

On 21 May 2003 the applicant obtained a certificate from the office of the headman (muhtarlık) attesting his indigence.

On 5 June 2003, the applicant brought an action against the Ministry of the Interior before the Supreme Military Administrative Court requesting compensation of 30,000,000,000 Turkish liras (TRL)0. In his petition the applicant alleged, inter alia, that he had no such eye problems prior to his service in the army. He further referred to the doctrine of “social risk”, which did not require the establishment of any causal link between the harmful action and the loss. The applicant also requested legal aid to cover the payment of the court fees.

On 24 July 2003 the Supreme Military Administrative Court, after examining the case file and hearing the observations of the rapporteur, dismissed the applicant’s request for legal aid on the ground that the case was not well‑founded.

On 25 July 2003, the Supreme Military Administrative Court notified the applicant that he was required to pay a court fee which was TRL 476,970,000 (approximately 292 euros).

In the meantime, on 19 August 2008, the applicant was examined by doctors at Van State Hospital. The latter confirmed that the applicant had strong myopic degeneration (-8 degrees) in his left eye amounting to 37 % of loss of sight.

On 12 November 2003, the court discontinued the proceedings on the ground that the applicant failed to pay the necessary court fees.

On 20 December 2003 the applicant was notified of this decision.