FIFTH SECTION
 
 
 
 
 
 
CASE OF DANIJEL PEČNIK v. SLOVENIA
 
(Application no. 44135/06)
 
 
 
 
 
JUDGMENT
 
 
 
 
STRASBOURG
 
18 October 2012
 
FINAL
 
18/03/2013
 
This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 (c) of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Danijel Pečnik v. Slovenia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:
 Dean Spielmann, President,
 Mark Villiger,
 Karel Jungwiert,
 Boštjan M. Zupančič,
 Ann Power-Forde,
 Angelika Nußberger,
 André Potocki, judges,
and Claudia Westerdiek, Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 18 September 2012,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in an application (no. 44135/06) 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, Mr Danijel Pečnik (“the applicant”), on 27 September 2006. 2. The applicant was represented by Ms M. Končan Verstovšek, a lawyer practising in Celje. The Slovenian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent. 3. The applicant alleged under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention that the length of the proceedings before the domestic courts to which he was a party was excessive. He also complained under Article 13 of the Convention of the lack of an effective domestic remedy in this respect
4. On 17 January 2011 the application was communicated to the Government under Rule 54 § 2 of the Rules of Court. THE FACTS
I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE
5. The applicant was born in 1949 and lives in Mozirje. 6. On 2 December 2002 the applicant instituted proceedings before the Ljubljana Labour and Social Court challenging a decision rejecting his claim for disability insurance. 7. On 9 June 2005 the first hearing was held and the court delivered a judgment, rejecting the applicant’s request in whole. He appealed. 8. On 23 March 2006 the Higher Labour and Social Court upheld the appeal and remitted the case for re-examination. 9. Between 15 June 2006 and 19 October 2006 three hearings were held and the court appointed one expert. 10. On 19 October 2006 the first-instance court delivered a judgment. The defendant appealed. 11. On 1 March 2007 the Higher Labour and Social Court upheld the appeal in part and modified the first-instance judgment. This decision was served on the applicant on 3 April 2007. II. RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW
12. For relevant domestic law see Nezirović v. Slovenia ((dec.) no. 16400/06, 25 November 2008). THE LAW
I. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLES 6 § 1 AND 13 OF THE CONVENTION
13. The applicant complained that the proceedings to which he was a party had been excessively long. He relied on Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
 “In the determination of his civil rights and obligations ... everyone is entitled to a ... hearing within a reasonable time by [a] ... tribunal ...”
14. In substance, the applicant further complained that the remedies available for excessively long proceedings in Slovenia were ineffective. Article 13 of the Convention reads as follows:
“Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in [the] Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.”
A. Admissibility
15. The Court 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 (see Maksimovič v. Slovenia, no. 28662/05, 22 June 2010, §§ 21–24). It must therefore be declared admissible. B. Merits
1. Article 6 § 1
16. The period to be taken into consideration began on 2 December 2002, the day the applicant instituted proceedings before the Ljubljana Labour and Social Court, and ended on 3 April 2007, the day the Higher Labour and Social Court’s judgment of 1 March 2007 was served on the applicant. It therefore lasted four years and four months at two levels of jurisdiction. 17. The Court reiterates that the reasonableness of the length of proceedings must be assessed in the light of the circumstances of the case and with reference to the following criteria: the complexity of the case, the conduct of the applicant and the relevant authorities and what was at stake for the applicant in the dispute (see, among many other authorities, Frydlender v. France [GC], no. 30979/96, § 43, ECHR 2000-VII). 18. Having examined all the material submitted to it, and having regard to its case-law on the subject (see, Ribič v. Slovenia, no. 20965/03, §§ 28‑33, 19 October 2010; Cvetrežnik v. Slovenia, no. 75653/01, §§ 16-18, 30 March 2006; Pažon v. Slovenia, no. 17337/02, §§ 16-18, 6 April 2006), the Court considers that in the instant case the length of the proceedings was excessive and failed to meet the “reasonable-time” requirement. 19. 2. Article 13
20. 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). In view of its findings in the case Maksimovič v.

Article of the Convention at issue: Article 13
Outcome: violation