SECOND SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 22575/05
Bayram ARSLAN against Turkey
and 47 other applications
(see list appended)
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 11 October 2016 as a Committee composed of:
Nebojša Vučinić, President,
Valeriu Griţco,
Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström, judges,
and Hasan Bakırcı, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on the various dates indicated in the appended table,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
1. A list of the applicants and their representatives is set out in the appendix. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.
A. The circumstances of the case
2. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
3. The applicants were all serving their prison sentences or were in pre-trial detention when the present applications were lodged. Disciplinary boards of respective prisons decided to impose on the applicants’ correspondence several types of monitoring measures such as stopping, destroying or censoring their private letters.
4. The applicants challenged the prison authorities’ decisions before the enforcement judges and the assize courts respectively. The domestic courts dismissed the applicants’ objections and ruled that the impugned restrictions were consistent with the domestic laws and regulations and were justified by reasons of order and security in the prisons, prevention of offences and protection of third parties.
B. Relevant domestic law
5. A description of the domestic law regarding the new remedy introduced by Law no. 6384 can be found in Sayan v. Turkey ((dec.), no. 49460/11, §§ 6-12, 14 June 2016).
COMPLAINTS
6. The applicants invoked Articles 8, 9, 10 and/or 14 of the Convention and complained that the restrictions imposed on their correspondence breached, in a discriminatory manner, their right to respect for their correspondence solely or together with their right to freedom of thought and their right to free expression. Some of the applicants also invoked Articles 6 and 13 of the Convention and complained about the ineffectiveness and unfairness of the procedures before the national courts. Finally, based on the same facts some of the applicants invoked Articles 1, 3, 17 and 18 of the Convention, Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 and Article 3 of Protocol No.7.
THE LAW
7. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, at the outset the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.
8. The Court will examine the applications solely from the standpoint of Article 8 of the Convention (see Asan v. Turkey (dec.), no. 38453/09, 30 August 2016).
9. The Government noted that pursuant to Law no. 6384 a new Compensation Commission had been established to deal with applications concerning the length of proceedings and the non-execution of judgments. They further noted that the competence of the Compensation Commission was subsequently enlarged by a decree adopted on 9 March 2016 to examine complaints relating to, among other things, the alleged breach of the right to respect for correspondence of detainees or convicted persons, on account of the prison administration’s refusal to receive or send letters or similar correspondence that are drafted in Turkish. Accordingly, they maintained that the applicants had not exhausted domestic remedies, as they had not made any application to the Compensation Commission.
10. The Court has examined similar applications against Turkey on several occasions and found a violation of Article 8 of the Convention on the grounds that the interference was not “in accordance with the law” (see Tan v. Turkey, no. 9460/03, §§ 24-26, 3 July 2007, and Tur v. Turkey, no. 13692/03, §§ 23-25, 11 June 2013) or was not “necessary in a democratic society” (see Fazıl Ahmet Tamer v. Turkey, no. 6289/02, §§ 54‑56, 5 December 2006, and Mehmet Nuri Özen v. Turkey, no. 37619/05, §§ 18-19, 2 February 2010).
11. Furthermore, the Court also notes that in its decision in the case of Ümmühan Kaplan (no. 24240/07, § 77, 20 March 2012), it stressed that it could nevertheless examine, under its normal procedure, applications of that type which had already been communicated to the Government. However, taking into account the Government’s objection with regard to the applicants’ failure to make use of the new domestic remedy established by Law no. 6384, the Court reiterates its conclusion in the cases of Turgut and Others v. Turkey ((dec.), no. 4860/09, §§ 47-59, 26 March 2013), Çakır and Others v. Turkey ((dec.), no. 51274/07, § 6, 25 June 2013), Yöyler and Others v. Turkey ((dec.), no. 10783/07, §§ 11-13, 16 December 2014), Yıldız and Yanak ((dec.), no. 44013/07, § 29-38, 27 May 2014), and Sayan v. Turkey ((dec.), no. 49460/11, 14 June 2016).
12. In view of the above, the Court concludes that the applications should be rejected under Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention for non‑exhaustion of domestic remedies.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to join the applications;
Declares the applications inadmissible.
Done in English and notified in writing on 17 November 2016.
Hasan BakırcıNebojša Vučinić
Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
No.
Application No.
Lodged on
Applicant
Date of birth
Place of residence
Represented by
22575/05
30/05/2005
Bayram ARSLAN
31/03/1972
Ordu
25307/05
27/06/2005
Tekin TANGÜN
01/05/1969
Tekirdağ
Taylan TANAY
37714/05
29/09/2005
Serhat ÇETİNER
23/10/1972
Kırıkkale
Sertaç ÇETİNER
26677/06
25/05/2006
Turgut KOYUNCU
10/10/1974
İzmir
Hesin DURSUN
10912/07
19/02/2007
Mehmet Şerif ÖNER
01/01/1975
İzmir
Türkan ASLAN
14111/07
13/03/2007
Kemal YİĞİT
20/10/1982
İzmir
Esin ASLAN
14118/07
13/03/2007
Murat IŞIK
01/01/1979
İzmir
Nezahat PAŞA BAYRAKTAR
22257/07
15/05/2007
Eren YILDIZ
01/01/1973
Edirne
Fazıl Ahmet TAMER
26229/07
05/06/2007
Süleyman TATAR
02/04/1970
Ankara
Fazıl Ahmet TAMER
41318/07
09/08/2007
Kemal YİĞİT
20/10/1982
İzmir
Esin ASLAN
47146/07
09/10/2007
Cengiz Sinan Halis ÇELİK
16/04/1974
Muğla
Ercan KANAR
49409/07
25/10/2007
Mustafa ÇAÇAN
01/01/1973
Diyarbakır
10000/08
18/02/2008
Hüseyin AYYILDIZ
01/01/1966
Istanbul
10367/08
23/01/2008
Hikmet KALE
08/12/1970
Tekirdağ
Hasan ŞAHİNGÖZ
10/10/1971
Tekirdağ
Gülizar TUNCER
13804/08
19/02/2008
Kemal YİĞİT
20/10/1982
İzmir
Esin ASLAN
15645/08
10/03/2008
Kamuran Reşit BEKİR
01/01/1971
Ankara
Fahriye Belgün BABA
19169/08
31/03/2008
Erdener DEMİREL
21/11/1980
Tekirdağ
Metin FİLORİNALI
19639/08
01/04/2008
Hayati KAYTAN
01/05/1968
Ankara
20071/08
15/04/2008
Cebbar PALABIYIK
29/09/1969
Ankara
26976/08
02/05/2008
Murat KARAYEL
10/05/1971
Kırıkkale
Fazıl Ahmet TAMER
42121/08
15/05/2008
Nedim ÖZALP
01/04/1963
Bolu
Murat VARGÜN
42692/08
26/08/2008
Sinan İYİT
06/11/1973
Ankara
Murat VARGÜN
42701/08
13/06/2007
Fermani ÇETİN
01/03/1972
Bolu
42709/08
09/11/2007
İbrahim ŞAHİN
01/05/1975
Kocaeli
Gül ALTAY
42717/08
16/05/2007
Resul DEMİR
02/02/1974
Bitlis
50594/08
31/10/2006
Serhat ÇETİNER
23/10/1972
Kırıkkale
Sertaç ÇETİNER
56246/08
22/08/2008
Cahit İLBOĞA
20/06/1973
Erzurum
Abdullah GÜZEL
56361/08
30/10/2008
Turgut KOYUNCU
10/10/1974
İzmir
Hesin DURSUN
60855/08
03/12/2008
Barış İNAN
05/02/1973
Kandıra
Faruk Nafiz ERTEKİN
3812/09
25/11/2008
Mehmet YAVUZ
11/02/1969
İzmir
5495/09
03/11/2008
Mehmet Şirin TEKMENÜRAY
02/05/1970
Karaman
Ömer GÜNEŞ
5883/09
05/03/2008
Mehmet Şirin TEKMENÜRAY
02/05/1970
Karaman
Ömer GÜNEŞ
6160/09
16/02/2009
Muhammed ŞORLİ
01/01/1987
Tekirdağ
İnan AKMEŞE
6567/09
24/01/2009
Mehmet Emin ERSOY
22/02/1967
Erzurum
6798/09
02/12/2008
Mehmet Çelebi ÇALAN
01/09/1967
Bolu
Murat VARGÜN
6804/09
25/11/2008
Ömer YILDIRIM
01/05/1962
Karaman
9942/09
28/10/2008
Ali İhsan DOST
20/11/1974
İzmir
Hesin DURSUN
10771/09
31/12/2008
Mehmet Şirin TEKMENÜRAY
02/05/1970
Karaman
Ömer GÜNEŞ
11457/09
31/03/2004
Mehmet Reşit ARSLAN
01/06/1966
Ankara
11550/09
06/12/2006
Mehmet Şirin TEKMENÜRAY
02/05/1970
Karaman
Ömer GÜNEŞ
12864/09
12/02/2009
Musa ÖZER
01/07/1968
Osmaniye
13910/09
23/02/2009
Tekin İREZ
14/06/1968
Balıkesir
16962/09
18/03/2009
Mehmet Nuri ÖZEN
10/05/1976
İzmir
Murat VARGÜN
18149/09
17/03/2009
Ali ADIMAN
03/03/1965
Bolu
29165/09
29/04/2009
Musa KAYA
05/05/1973
Kırıkkale
33508/09
25/05/2009
Musa KAYA
05/05/1973
Kırıkkale
50108/09
16/07/2009
Giyasettin AYDIN
15/12/1972
Kırıkkale
Emel SAYIN
25958/15
29/03/2006
Soydan AKAY
20/01/1974
Diyarbakır
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Full & Egal Universal Law Academy