In the case of Ridi v. Italy*,
The European Court of Human Rights, sitting, in accordance with
Article 43 (art. 43) of the Convention for the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ("the Convention")** and the relevant
provisions of the Rules of Court, as a Chamber composed of the
following judges:
Mr R. Ryssdal, President,
Mr F. Matscher,
Mr B. Walsh,
Mr C. Russo,
Mr A. Spielmann,
Mr N. Valticos,
Mr A.N. Loizou
Mr J.M. Morenilla,
Mr F. Bigi,
and also of Mr M.-A. Eissen, Registrar, and Mr H. Petzold, Deputy
Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 30 October 1991 and
24 January 1992,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on the
last-mentioned date:
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Notes by the Registrar
* The case is numbered 4/1991/256/327. The first number is the
case's position on the list of cases referred to the Court in the
relevant year (second number). The last two numbers indicate the
case's position on the list of cases referred to the Court since its
creation and on the list of the corresponding originating
applications to the Commission.
** As amended by Article 11 of Protocol No. 8 (P8-11), which came
into force on 1 January 1990.
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PROCEDURE
1. The case was referred to the Court on 8 March 1991 by the
European Commission of Human Rights ("the Commission"), within the
three-month period laid down by Article 32 para. 1 and Article 47
(art. 32-1, art. 47) of the Convention. It originated in an
application (no. 11911/85) against the Italian Republic lodged with
the Commission under Article 25 (art. 25) by an Italian national,
Mr Antonio Ridi, on 12 October 1985.
The Commission's request referred to Articles 44 and 48 (art. 44,
art. 48) and to the declaration whereby Italy recognised the
compulsory jurisdiction of the Court (Article 46) (art. 46). The
object of the request was to obtain a decision as to whether the
facts of the case disclosed a breach by the respondent State of its
obligations under Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1).
2. In response to the enquiry made in accordance with
Rule 33 para. 3 (d) of the Rules of Court, the applicant stated that
he did not wish to take part in the proceedings.
3. On 23 April 1991 the President of the Court decided that,
pursuant to Rule 21 para. 6 and in the interests of the proper
administration of justice, this case and the cases of Diana,
Casciaroli, Manieri, Mastrantonio, Idrocalce S.r.l., Owners'
Services Ltd, Cardarelli, Golino, Taiuti, Maciariello,
Manifattura FL, Steffano, Ruotolo, Vorrasi, Cappello, G. v. Italy,
Caffè Roversi S.p.a., Andreucci, Gana, Barbagallo, Cifola,
Pandolfelli and Palumbo, Arena, Pierazzini, Tusa, Cooperativa Parco
Cuma, Serrentino, Cormio, Lorenzi, Bernardini and Gritti and
Tumminelli* should be heard by the same Chamber.
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* Cases nos. 3/1991/255/326; 5/1991/257/328 to 13/1991/265/336;
15/1991/267/338; 16/1991/268/339; 18/1991/270/341; 20/1991/272/343;
22/1991/274/345; 24/1991/276/347; 25/1991/277/348; 33/1991/285/356;
36/1991/288/359; 38/1991/290/361; 40/1991/292/363 to
44/1991/296/367; 50/1991/302/373; 51/1991/303/374; 58/1991/310/381;
59/1991/311/382; 61/1991/313/384
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4. The Chamber to be constituted for this purpose included ex
officio Mr C. Russo, the elected judge of Italian nationality
(Article 43 of the Convention) (art. 43), and Mr R. Ryssdal, the
President of the Court (Rule 21 para. 3 (b)). On the same day, in
the presence of the Registrar, the President drew by lot the names
of the other seven members, namely Mr F. Matscher,
Mr J. Pinheiro Farinha, Sir Vincent Evans, Mr A. Spielmann,
Mr I. Foighel, Mr J.M. Morenilla and Mr F. Bigi (Article 43 in fine
of the Convention and Rule 21 para. 4) (art. 43).
Subsequently, Mr B. Walsh, Mr A.N. Loizou and Mr N. Valticos,
substitute judges, replaced respectively Mr Pinheiro Farinha and
Sir Vincent Evans, who had both resigned and whose successors had
taken up their duties before the deliberations held on 30 October,
and Mr Foighel, who was unable to take part in the further
consideration of the case (Rules 2 para. 3, 22 para. 1 and
24 para. 1).
5. Mr Ryssdal assumed the office of President of the Chamber
(Rule 21 para. 5) and, through the Deputy Registrar, consulted the
Agent of the Italian Government ("the Government") and the Delegate
of the Commission on the organisation of the proceedings (Rules 37
para. 1 and 38). In accordance with the order made in consequence,
the Registrar received the Government's memorial on 16 July 1991.
By a letter received on 22 August, the Secretary to the Commission
informed the Registrar that the Delegate did not consider it
necessary to reply thereto.
6. On 28 June the Chamber had decided to dispense with a
hearing, having found that the conditions for such derogation from
the usual procedure were satisfied (Rules 26 and 38).
7. On 28 August the Commission produced the file on the
proceedings before it, as requested by the Registrar on the
President's instructions.
8. On 5 November 1991 the Commission lodged its observations on
the claims for just satisfaction which the applicant had
communicated to the Registrar on 21 June (Article 50 of the
Convention; Rules 50 and 1(k), taken together) (art. 50) and on
which the Government had already commented in their memorial.
AS TO THE FACTS
9. Mr Antonio Ridi is an Italian national and resides in
Florence. He is retired. The facts established by the Commission
pursuant to Article 31 para. 1 (art. 31-1) of the Convention are as
follows (paragraphs 16-24 of its report):
"16. A writ was filed in the Belluno District Court on 4 May 1976
by the applicant and three other persons against a Mr Z. seeking
compensation for the damage arising from the unlawful widening of a
cart track which crossed the land jointly owned by them, and its
restoration to its original condition.
17. After hearings on 3 November 1976 and on 9 March
and 11 May 1977, the investigating judge called for an expert
opinion on 22 February 1978.
18. The expert appointed on that date relinquished his
appointment, as did another expert appointed on 6 February 1979.
A third expert, appointed on 2 May 1979, was sworn in at the hearing
on 27 June 1979 and lodged his report on 25 August 1979.
19. Two hearings took place on 24 October 1979
and 16 January 1980. On the latter date the applicant requested a
further expert opinion which was submitted on 28 March 1980.
20. At the following hearing on 29 October 1980, the applicant
asked that the expert be replaced on the ground that his report had
not been reliable. He reiterated this request at the hearings on
15 April and 11 November 1981. The investigating judge allowed the
request on 12 March 1982 and summoned a new expert, who was sworn in
at the hearing of 7 April 1982 and instructed to lodge his report
within ninety days. As the deadline was not met, the hearing of
14 July 1982 was postponed to 13 October 1982, on which date the
case was deemed ready to be tried.
21. At the hearing of 2 March 1983 the parties made their final
submissions and the case was referred to the appropriate chamber of
the court.
22. The parties were to have appeared before that chamber
on 17 January 1984 but the hearing did not take place until
16 April 1985 because the reporting judge had been transferred in
the meantime.
23. On 8 May 1985 the court delivered judgment, which found for
the applicant. The text of the judgment was lodged with the
registry on 8 October 1985. On 18 September 1986 Mr Z. appealed
against the court's decision.
24. The proceedings before the Venice Court of Appeal, the
course of which has not been described, ended with the hearing
on 15 March 1988 when the appeal court delivered judgment, finding
that the applicant and the other joint owners had sold the land in
question on 17 December 1976 to purchasers who had transferred it to
Mr Z. on 11 September 1986. Thus the Court of Appeal was required
to rule only on the damage sustained by the plaintiffs up
to 17 December 1976 and assessed this damage at 100,000 Italian lire
in all. The text of the decision was lodged with the registry of
the Court of Appeal on 2 May 1988.
25. ... ."
10. By a letter of 28 March 1991 the applicant claimed that he
had lodged an appeal in the Court of Cassation on 8 March 1989, but
that it had not been entertained because it had not been filed by a
lawyer.
PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION
11. Mr Ridi lodged his application with the Commission on
12 October 1985. He complained of the length of the civil
proceedings brought by him and relied on Article 6 para. 1
(art. 6-1) of the Convention.
12. On 11 May 1990 the Commission declared the application
(no. 11911/85) admissible. In its report of 15 January 1991
(Article 31) (art. 31), it expressed the unanimous opinion that
there had been a violation of Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1). The
full text of the Commission's opinion is reproduced as an annex to
this judgment*.
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* Note by the Registrar: for practical reasons this annex will
appear only with the printed version of the judgment (volume 229-B
of Series A of the Publications of the Court), but a copy of the
Commission's report is obtainable from the registry.
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AS TO THE LAW
I. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 6 PARA. 1 (art. 6-1)
13. The applicant claimed that his civil action had not been
tried within a "reasonable time" as required under Article 6 para. 1
(art. 6-1) of the Convention, according to which:
"In the determination of his civil rights and obligations ...,
everyone is entitled to a ... hearing within a reasonable time by
[a] ... tribunal ..."
The Government disputed this view, whereas the Commission accepted
it.
14. The period to be taken into consideration began
on 4 May 1976 when the proceedings were instituted against Mr Z. in
the Belluno District Court. It ended, at the latest, on 2 May 1989,
when the judgment of the Venice Court of Appeal became final, no
appeal to the Court of Cassation having been filed in due form
(see the Pugliese (II) v. Italy judgment of 24 May 1991, Series A
no. 206-A, p. 8, para. 16).
15. The reasonableness of the length of proceedings is to be
assessed with reference to the criteria laid down in the Court's
case-law and in the light of the circumstances of the case, which in
this instance call for an overall assessment.
16. The Government invoked the excessive workload of the
relevant courts and the impossibility of preventing the first two
experts from relinquishing their appointment and of compelling the
fourth and last to carry out his duties within the prescribed
time-limit. In addition the applicant had not asked that his case
be examined more rapidly.
17. The case was, however, a simple one. Yet it took nearly six
years to conduct the investigation (3 November 1976 -
13 October 1982) and there was a long period of stagnation in the
proceedings before the competent chamber of the District Court
(2 March 1983 - 16 April 1985).
As regards the first of these periods, the Court notes that the
experts were "acting in the context of judicial proceedings
supervised by the judge; the latter remained responsible for the
preparation of the case and for the speedy conduct of the trial"
(see the Capuano v. Italy judgment of 25 June 1987, Series A
no. 119, p. 13, para. 30).
The second period was also excessive. The Government pleaded the
backlog of cases pending in the Belluno District Court, but
Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1) imposes on the Contracting States the
duty to organise their legal system in such a way that their courts
can meet each of its requirements (see, inter alia, the Vocaturo v.
Italy judgment of 24 May 1991, Series A no. 206-C, p. 32, para. 17).
In addition, it is hard to see why it took five months to lodge the
text of the judgment of 8 May 1985 with the registry.
It is true that the applicant and the other plaintiffs appear to
have delayed serving it on Mr Z. so that the State cannot be held
responsible for the period of more than eleven months which elapsed
before the appeal was filed (8 October 1985 - 18 September 1986), or
moreover for the year which may have gone by before the judgment of
the Venice Court of Appeal became final. Furthermore, the
proceedings would seem to have been conducted at a normal pace
before the Court of Appeal.
18. However, the Court cannot regard as "reasonable" the lapse
of time in the present case.
There has therefore been a violation of Article 6 para. 1
(art. 6-1).
II. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 50 (art. 50)
19. According to Article 50 (art. 50):
"If the Court finds that a decision or a measure taken by a legal
authority or any other authority of a High Contracting Party is
completely or partially in conflict with the obligations arising
from the ... Convention, and if the internal law of the said Party
allows only partial reparation to be made for the consequences of
this decision or measure, the decision of the Court shall, if
necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured party."
A. Damage
20. Mr Ridi claimed compensation for non-pecuniary damage,
without giving any figures.
The Court accepts that he must have sustained some such damage, but
in the circumstances of the case considers, like the Government,
that the finding of a violation of Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1)
provides in itself sufficient satisfaction for the purposes of
Article 50 (art. 50).
B. Costs and expenses
21. The applicant also sought 7,178,840 Italian lire in respect
of costs incurred in the national courts.
22. The Court subscribes in substance to the opinion expressed
by the Government that Mr Ridi was not entitled to the sum claimed
because the evidence did not establish the existence of a causal
connection between such costs and the length of the proceedings.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT UNANIMOUSLY
1. Holds that there has been a violation of Article 6 para. 1
(art. 6-1);
2. Holds that the present judgment constitutes in itself
sufficient just satisfaction for the purposes of Article 50
(art. 50) in respect of the alleged non-pecuniary damage;
3. Dismisses the remainder of the applicant's claims.
Done in English and in French, and delivered at a public hearing in
the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on 27 February 1992.
Signed: Rolv RYSSDAL
President
Signed: Marc-André EISSEN
Registrar
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy