Juozaitienė and Bikulčius v. Lithuania (dec.)

Information Note on the Court’s case-law No. 75

May 2005

Juozaitienė and Bikulčius v. Lithuania (dec.) - 70659/01

Decision 19.5.2005 [Section II]

Article 2

Article 2-1

Life

Use of firearms by police officers in a car chase resulting in the death of the applicants’ sons, and alleged lack of legal remedies to obtain redress: admissible

The applicants’ sons were passengers in a car which was involved in a chase by the police. Three police officers received an order to stop the car for breach of various road-traffic regulations. In the initial part of the chase, the policemen fired a few warning shots in the air. However, when the car suddenly changed direction, the policemen fired some shots towards the car. A second police vehicle also got involved in the chase and one of the officers fired a shot towards the car’s wheels. Soon after, the car was forced to stop, and the driver was arrested while trying to flee. The policemen found the bodies of the applicants’ sons in the car, whose deaths were instantly confirmed on arrival of a medical team. Criminal proceedings were opened against the driver of the car for manslaughter in regard to the deaths of the applicants’ sons. The applicants submitted their civil claims in these proceedings. The courts, at three levels of jurisdiction, acquitted the driver of the offence of manslaughter, noting that the deaths had been the result of “lawful actions of a third person who had used an official weapon”. The applicants’ civil claims against the driver were not examined. The criminal proceedings which were opened against one of the police officers, holding him responsible for the deaths, were discontinued by the prosecutor, emphasising that the swerving movements of the car had been the cause of the deaths. The District court rejected the applicants’ appeals, concluding that the police officer had not exceeded the requirements of the relevant legal provisions in using his gun.

Admissible under Article 2.

© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights
This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.

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