CASE OF BUNKATE AGAINST THE NETHERLANDS



     The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 54

(art. 54) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and

Fundamental Freedoms (hereinafter referred to as "the Convention"),

     Having regard to the judgment of the European Court of Human

Rights in the Abdoella case delivered on 26 May 1993 and

transmitted the same day to the Committee of Ministers;

     Recalling that the case originated in an application

(No. 13645/88) against the Netherlands lodged with the European

Commission of Human Rights on 7 March 1988 under Article 25

(art. 25) of the Convention by Mr Johannes Maria Clemens Bunkate,

a Netherlands national, and that the Commission declared admissible

the complaint that the criminal proceedings against him had not

been conducted within a reasonable time;

     Recalling that the case was brought before the Court by the

Government of the Netherlands on 24 July 1992;

     Whereas in its judgment of 26 May 1993 the Court unanimously:

     - decided not to strike the case out of its list of cases;

     - held that there had been a violation of Article 6,

paragraph 1 (art. 6-1);

     - rejected the claim for just satisfaction;

     Having regard to the Rules adopted by the Committee of

Ministers concerning the application of Article 54 (art. 54) of the

Convention;

     Having invited the Government of the Netherlands to inform it

of the measures which had been taken in consequence of the judgment

of 26 May 1993, having regard to the Netherlands' obligation under

Article 53 (art. 53) of the Convention to abide by it;

     Whereas, during the examination of the case by the Committee

of Ministers, the Government of the Netherlands gave the Committee

information about the measures taken in consequence of the

judgment, which information appears in the appendix to this

resolution,

     Declares, after having taken note of the information supplied

by the Government of the Netherlands, that it has exercised its

functions under Article 54 (art. 54) of the Convention in this

case.

                Appendix to Resolution DH (95) 92

    Information provided by the Government of the Netherlands

           during the examination of the Bunkate case

                  by the Committee of Ministers

     The Supreme Court and the courts of appeal have seriously

studied the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in the

Abdoella and Bunkate cases.  As a result of this examination, the

presidents of the courts of appeal have henceforth instituted

regular meetings to examine the organisation of the appeal

procedure in order to avoid the kind of problem which arose in

these two cases.  Considering the small number of cases pending

before the Convention organs with regard to the length of criminal

proceedings in the Netherlands, the Government finds that these

measures have been sufficient to remedy the problems pinpointed by

the Court.

 

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