Source: http://echr.ketse.com/doc/6799.02-en-20060413/view/
Timestamp: 2020-07-07 03:13:04
Document Index: 792075520

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application no. 6799', '§ 1', '§ 3', '§ 1', '§ 156', '§ 1', '§ 2']

MURATOVIC v. SLOVENIA
MURATOVIC v. SLOVENIA About Project
CASE OF MURATOVIČ v. SLOVENIA
(Application no. 6799/02)
In the case of Muratovič v. Slovenia,
1. The case originated in an application (no. 6799/02) against the Republic of Slovenia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Slovenian national, Ms Jasna Muratovič (“the applicant”), on 8 February 2002.
5. The applicant was born in 1975 and lives in Velenje.
6. On 24 August 1996 the applicant was injured in an accident at work. The applicant’s employer had taken out insurance with the insurance company ZT.
7. On 3 April 1997 the applicant instituted civil proceedings against ZT in the Celje Local Court (Okrajno sodišče v Celju) seeking damages in the amount of 1,200,0000 tolars (approximately 5,000 euros) for the injuries sustained.
Between 10 September 1997 and 14 January 1999 the applicant made three requests that a date be set for a hearing.
On 24 June 1998 and 4 March 1999 the applicant lodged preliminary written submissions and/or adduced evidence.
Neither of the two hearings held on 10 June 1998 and 24 March 1999 was adjourned at the request of the applicant.
At the last hearing the court decided to deliver a written judgment. The judgment, upholding the applicant’s claim in part, was served on the applicant on 8 April 1999.
8. On 23 April 1999 ZT appealed to the Celje Higher Court (Višje sodišče v Celju).
On 28 October 1999 the court allowed the appeal, annulled the first-instance court-s judgment and remitted the case to the first-instance court for re-examination.
The decision was served on the applicant on 6 December 1999.
9. Between 17 January 2000 and 10 May 2002 the applicant lodged five preliminary written submissions and/or adduced evidence.
Between 1 February 2000 and 13 February 2003 she made six requests that a date be set for a hearing.
Of the four hearings held between 3 January 2001 and 17 March 2003 none was adjourned at the request of the applicant.
At the last hearing the court decided to deliver a written judgment. The judgment, upholding in part the applicant’s claim, was served on the applicant on 20 June 2003.
10. On 2 July 2003 the applicant appealed to the Celje Higher Court.
On 18 November 2004 the court allowed the applicant’s appeal in part and increased the amount of the damages awarded.
11. The applicant complained about the excessive length of the proceedings. He relied on Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
12. In substance, the applicant further complained that the remedies available for excessive legal proceedings in Slovenia were ineffective. Article 13 of the Convention reads as follows:
13. The Government pleaded non-exhaustion of domestic remedies.
14. The applicant contested that argument, claiming that the remedies available were not effective.
15. The Court notes that the present application is similar to the cases of Belinger and Lukenda (Belinger v. Slovenia (dec.), no. 42320/98, 2 October 2001, and Lukenda v. Slovenia, no. 23032/02, 6 October 2005). In those cases the Court dismissed the Government’s objection of non-exhaustion of domestic remedies because it found that the legal remedies at the applicant’s disposal were ineffective. The Court recalls its findings in the Lukenda judgment that the violation of the right to a trial within a reasonable time is a systemic problem resulting from inadequate legislation and inefficiency in the administration of justice.
16. As regards the instant case, the Court finds that the Government have not submitted any convincing arguments which would require the Court to distinguish it from its established case-law.
17. The Court further notes that the application is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention. Nor is it inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be declared admissible.
18. The period to be taken into consideration began on 3 April 1997, the day the applicant instituted proceedings with the Celje District Court, and ended on 13 January 2005, the day the Celje Higher Court’s decision was served on the applicant. It therefore lasted over seven years and nine months and decisions were rendered in four instances.
20. Having examined all the material submitted to it, and having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant case the length of the proceedings, in particular before the first-instance court, was excessive and failed to meet the “reasonable-time” requirement.
21. The Court reiterates that Article 13 guarantees an effective remedy before a national authority for an alleged breach of the requirement under Article 6 § 1 to hear a case within a reasonable time (see Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, § 156, ECHR 2000-XI). It notes that the objections and arguments put forward by the Government have been rejected in earlier cases (see Lukenda, cited above) and sees no reason to reach a different conclusion in the present case.
22. Accordingly, the Court considers that in the present case there has been a violation of Article 13 on account of the lack of a remedy under domestic law whereby the applicant could have obtained a ruling upholding his right to have his case heard within a reasonable time, as set forth in Article 6 § 1.
24. The applicant claimed 10,000 euros (EUR) in respect of non-pecuniary damage.
26. The Court considers that the applicant must have sustained non-pecuniary damage. Ruling on an equitable basis, it awards him EUR 1,000 under that head.
27. The applicant also claimed approximately EUR 1,850 for the costs and expenses incurred before the Court.
28. The Government argued that the claim was too high.
29. According to the Court’s case-law, an applicant is entitled to reimbursement of his costs and expenses only in so far as it has been shown that these have been actually and necessarily incurred and were reasonable as to quantum. The Court also notes that the applicant’s lawyers, who also represented the applicant in Lukenda (cited above), lodged nearly 400 applications which, apart from the facts, are essentially the same as this one. Accordingly, in the present case, regard being had to the information in its possession and the above criteria, the Court considers it reasonable to award the applicant the sum of EUR 1,000 for the proceedings before the Court.
30. The Court considers it appropriate that the default interest should be based on the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank, to which should be added three percentage points.
(a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months from the date on which the judgment becomes final in accordance with Article 44 § 2 of the Convention, EUR 1,000 (one thousand euros) in respect of non-pecuniary damage and EUR 1,000 (one thousand euros) in respect of costs and expenses, plus any tax that may be chargeable;
MURATOVIČ v. SLOVENIA JUDGMENT