SECOND SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 47116/17
Tomo DALMATIN
against Montenegro
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 12 December 2019 as a Committee composed of:
Arnfinn Bårdsen, President,
Ivana Jelić,
Darian Pavli, judges,
and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 26 June 2017,
Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicant,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant’s details are set out in the appended table.
The applicant was represented by Ms A. Stanković-Mugoša, a lawyer practising in Podgorica.
The applicant’s complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings were communicated to the Montenegrin Government (“the Government”).
THE LAW
In the present application, having examined all the material before it, the Court considers that for the reasons stated below, the respondent Government cannot be held liable for the excessive length of civil proceedings.
In particular, the Court notes that the applicant essentially referred to the excessive length of the first-instance proceedings which according to him had lasted for almost 5 years, from 22 June 2007 until 26 April 2012. However, the Government submitted that the first-instance court gave a judgment on 22 April 2010 which was quashed on 28 January 2011 following the applicant’s appeal and the case was remitted for re-hearing. The Government therefore invited the Court to reject the application as an abuse of the right of individual application in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.
The applicant neither disputed the facts submitted by the Government nor provided any explanation for the failure to inform the Court about them.
The Court reiterates that an application may be rejected as an abuse of the right of individual application within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention if, among other reasons, it was knowingly based on false information or if significant information and documents were deliberately omitted, either where they were known from the outset or where new significant developments occurred during the proceedings. Incomplete and therefore misleading information may amount to an abuse of the right of application, especially if the information in question concerns the very core of the case and no sufficient explanation is given for the failure to disclose that information (see, for example, Gross v. Switzerland [GC], no. 67810/10, § 28, ECHR 2014, and S.A.S. v. France [GC], no. 43835/11, § 67, ECHR 2014).
Having regard to the fact that the information withheld in the present case concerned the very core of the application and that the applicant did not provide any explanation as to why it was omitted in the application and his later submissions, the Court finds that such conduct was contrary to the purpose of the right of individual application.
In view of the above, the Court finds that the present application constitutes an abuse of the right of individual application and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Declares the application inadmissible.
Done in English and notified in writing on 16 January 2020.
Liv TigerstedtArnfinn Bårdsen
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
Application raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention
(excessive length of civil proceedings)
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Date of birth
Start of proceedings
End of proceedings
Total length
Levels of jurisdiction
Relevant domestic decision
47116/17
26/06/2017
Tomo Dalmatin
11/08/1961
22/06/2007
08/11/2013
6 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 18 day(s)
3 level(s) of jurisdiction
Supreme Court of Montenegro
Rev.no. 886/13
08/11/2013
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