SECOND SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 18904/09
Mahmut BACAK against Turkey
and 44 other applications
(see list appended)
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 11 February 2014 as a Committee composed of:
András Sajó, President,
Helen Keller,
Egidijus Kūris, judges,
and, Stanley Naismith, Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above applications lodged on 19 February 2009,
Having regard to the decision of 3 November 2009,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
1. A list of the applicants together with the details of proceedings involved is set out in the appendix. The applicants were represented by Mr Ç. K. Öner and Ms F. Esenyel, lawyers practising in Istanbul.
2. The Turkish Government were represented by their Agent.
A. The circumstances of the case
3. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
4. On 13 March 1996 the authorisation for a stockbroking firm (Yener Kaya Menkul Değerler A.Ş) to operate in the stock exchange was annulled. The firm was managing the equity securities of the applicants at the relevant time.
5. On 15 May 1998 the firm was declared bankrupt. Following insolvency proceedings, the exact amounts of its debts to creditors were determined in 2005.
6. On different dates in January 2005, the applicants had recourse to the Capital Markets Board (the Board), seeking compensation for some of their losses in accordance with Law no. 4487.
7. The proceedings ended on various dates between 1 May 2006 and 28 November 2008.
B. Relevant domestic law and practice
8. The Court refers to the law and practice which is outlined in the case of Müdür Turgut and others v. Turkey (dec.), no. 4860/09, §§ 19-26, 26 March 2013.
COMPLAINT
9. The applicants complained under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention that the administrative proceedings had not been concluded within a reasonable time.
THE LAW
10. The applicants complained that the length of the proceedings was incompatible with the “reasonable time” requirement, laid down in 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...”
11. The Government requested the Court to declare this application inadmissible for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies in the light of Law no. 6384 which provides for a remedy capable of redressing the Convention grievances of persons who complained about the length of proceedings.
12. The applicants contested the Government’s argument.
13. The Court observes that a new domestic remedy has been established in Turkey after the application of the pilot judgment procedure in the case of Ümmühan Kaplan v. Turkey (no. 24240/07, 20 March 2012). The Court recalls that in its decision in the case of Müdür Turgut and others v. Turkey (no. 4860/09, 26 March 2013), it declared a new application inadmissible on the ground that the applicants had failed to exhaust the domestic remedies as a new domestic remedy had been envisaged. In so doing, the Court in particular considered that this new remedy was, a priori, accessible and capable of offering a reasonable prospect of redress for complaints concerning the length of proceedings.
14. The Court further recalls that in its judgment in the case of Ümmühan Kaplan v. Turkey (cited above, § 77) it stressed that it could pursue the examination of applications of this type which were already communicated to the Government.
15. The Court recalls that it has already examined and declared inadmissible a similar application for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies (see Müdür Turgut and others, cited above, §§ 19-26 and 56). The Court sees no reason to come to a different conclusion in the present cases.
16. It follows that these applications must be rejected under Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies.
For these reasons, the Court unanimously
Declares inadmissible the applications.
Stanley NaismithAndrás Sajó
RegistrarPresident
No
Application No
Lodged on
Applicant
Date of birth
Place of residence
Represented by
18904/09
19/02/2009
Mahmut BACAK
26/07/1947
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
18914/09
19/02/2009
Metin CAN
24/01/1962
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
21320/09
19/02/2009
Celal ÖZDEMİR
06/07/1937
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
21333/09
19/02/2009
Erden TAMAN
19/05/1957
Istanbul
Canan TAMAN
01/01/1962
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
21353/09
19/02/2009
Mahmut Reşat İNAL
16/01/1958
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
21362/09
19/02/2009
İsmail Turgut KIVANÇ
02/07/1957
İzmir
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
21372/09
19/02/2009
Fazil EKİM
15/02/1967
İzmir
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
21384/09
19/02/2009
Bora BÜYÜKSAĞNAK
08/01/1967
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
21386/09
19/02/2009
Dursun ATEŞ
01/07/1943
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
21394/09
19/02/2009
Mazlum ÇÖPÜR
01/01/1961
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
21399/09
19/02/2009
Sabri Oğuz ARGANA
03/05/1968
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
21775/09
19/02/2009
Ünal ÖKER
30/05/1966
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
21778/09
19/02/2009
Selim AY
30/06/1972
Mugla
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
21780/09
19/02/2009
Özhan MARATON
10/01/1942
İzmir
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
21790/09
19/02/2009
Hulusi SAM
21/05/1958
İzmir
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
21800/09
19/02/2009
Melahat ÖZDEMİR
05/02/1956
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
21819/09
19/02/2009
Hacı BÖLEN
09/09/1958
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
21828/09
19/02/2009
Kenan KÜÇÜK
05/01/1968
İzmir
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
21834/09
19/02/2009
Hasan CEYHAN
11/01/1947
İzmir
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
23991/09
19/02/2009
Adil AKBAŞ
09/09/1968
Ankara
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
23992/09
19/02/2009
Sami SEVİNDİK
01/01/1960
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
23993/09
19/02/2009
Fatma Nermin ERTÜRK
21/07/1944
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
23994/09
19/02/2009
Vildan SAVAŞER
01/07/1937
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
23995/09
19/02/2009
İsmail YILDIZ
10/05/1964
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
23996/09
19/02/2009
Ziya SAKIZ
27/04/1959
İzmir
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
23997/09
19/02/2009
Semiha ÖZTÜRK
01/01/1951
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
23998/09
19/02/2009
Özcan TONGUROĞLU
27/02/1959
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
23999/09
19/02/2009
Bekir PETEK
12/05/1963
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
24000/09
19/02/2009
Hüseyin AYDIN
01/03/1954
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
24001/09
19/02/2009
Ünal ERDEM
25/05/1941
İzmir
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
24002/09
19/02/2009
Baki AKKAYA
02/01/1969
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
24003/09
19/02/2009
Kadriye SERBEST
01/01/1961
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
24004/09
19/02/2009
Latif YANAR
30/03/1958
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
24005/09
19/02/2009
Fatma Perihan ÖZSOYOĞLU
12/03/1949
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
24006/09
19/02/2009
Erbil ÜNVEREN
09/02/1950
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
24007/09
19/02/2009
Ömer Faruk ODUNCU
21/12/1961
Çanakkale
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
24008/09
19/02/2009
Yaşar GÜCÜYENEN
04/03/1958
İzmir
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
24009/09
19/02/2009
Kadriye ÖZDEMİR
15/10/1942
İzmir
Özden ÖZDEMİR
06/10/1962
İzmir
Önder ÖZDEMİR
10/05/1961
Manisa
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
24010/09
19/02/2009
Ali Riza MUMOĞLU
10/01/1948
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
24011/09
19/02/2009
Hanifi KARDAŞ
09/11/1951
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
24012/09
19/02/2009
Murat DAŞKIN
13/06/1966
İzmir
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
24013/09
19/02/2009
İlhan BAKAN
07/09/1945
İzmir
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
24014/09
19/02/2009
Mert Alp AYKUTLU
04/09/1971
İzmir
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
24015/09
19/02/2009
Hüsnü ÖZVARDAR
20/02/1967
Istanbul
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
24016/09
19/02/2009
Gülsüme KALENDER
29/10/1959
İzmir
Çetin Kutlu ÖNER
Fatma ESENYEL
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy