FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF KADZANAIA v. GEORGIA
(Application no. 27178/21)
 
 
 
 
JUDGMENT
 
STRASBOURG
21 March 2024
 
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Kadzanaia v. Georgia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
 Carlo Ranzoni, President,
 Lado Chanturia,
 María Elósegui, judges,
and Martina Keller, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to:
the application (no. 27178/21) against Georgia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on 19 May 2021 by a Georgian national, Ms Aza Kadzanaia (“the applicant”), who was born in 1962, lives in Tbilisi and was represented by Mr T. Kokoshvili, a lawyer practising in Tbilisi;
the decision to give notice of the complaints under Article 6 § 1 and Article 13 of the Convention to the Georgian Government (“the Government”), represented by their Agent, Mr B. Dzamashvili, of the Ministry of Justice, and to declare the remainder of the application inadmissible;
the parties’ observations;
Having deliberated in private on 22 February 2024,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
1. The case concerns the applicant’s complaints under Articles 6 and 13 of the Convention in respect of the length of criminal proceedings in which the applicant was recognised as a civil party. 2. On 15 October 1998 the applicant was robbed at gunpoint. The robber took 22,256 United States dollars (USD) from her currency exchange shop. 3. A criminal investigation was opened on 19 November 1998 and on 24 January 2000 the applicant was recognised as a civil party to the criminal proceedings in respect of pecuniary damage amounting to USD 22,256. 4. On 18 February 2000 Z.J. – a security officer of the United Georgian Bank and an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs – was indicted on charges of aggravated robbery and illegal purchase and storage of firearms and ammunition. 5. The ensuing criminal proceedings consisted of six interrelated sets of proceedings as a result of multiple remittals of the case by the Supreme Court, either to the prosecuting authority for additional investigation or to the lower courts on procedural grounds. At different stages of each set of proceedings, Z.J. was both acquitted and convicted. The proceedings ended on 29 January 2021 with Z.J. being acquitted. The trial court’s judgment acquitting Z.J. found that there had been insufficient evidence to convict him and that some of the investigative activities had been implemented defectively and some had been in breach of the procedural legislation, reducing the probative value of the relevant evidence. It was also noted that the bullets seized as part of the investigation had been lost by the authorities and that a separate investigation had been ongoing in that respect. The applicant’s civil claim was rejected on account of Z.J.’s acquittal.

Outcome for Article 13: violation