SECOND SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 10683/22
Ivana LUKAČ
against Croatia
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 2 February 2023 as a Committee composed of:
Frédéric Krenc, President,
Diana Sârcu,
Davor Derenčinović, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 16 February 2022,
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 Mr S. Radobuljac, a lawyer practising in Zagreb.
The applicant’s complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of civil proceedings were communicated to the Croatian 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 complaint about the excessive length of civil proceedings is inadmissible.
The Court notes that the applicant complained about the length of the civil proceedings instituted against her late father, who died while those proceedings were pending before the Constitutional Court. The applicant never took over those proceedings as his heir, and thus never participated in them. She submitted that she had only become aware of the proceedings after her late father’s representative had informed her of the Constitutional Court’s decision.
In these circumstances, the Court finds that the applicant, although an heir of a direct victim, has not been affected by the length of the proceedings and therefore cannot be considered a victim of the violation complained of (see, for instance, Bezzina Wettinger and Others v. Malta, no. 15091/06, §§ 62-69, 8 April 2008, and Georgia Makri and Others v. Greece, (dec.), no. 5977/03, 24 March 2005).
Accordingly, the present application is incompatible ratione personae with the provisions of the Convention within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Declares the application inadmissible.
Done in English and notified in writing on 2 March 2023.
Viktoriya Maradudina Frédéric Krenc
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
Application raising complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention
(excessive length of civil proceedings)
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Relevant starting date
End of proceedings
Total length
Levels of jurisdiction
Domestic court / file number
10683/22
16/02/2022
Ivana LUKAČ
1979
Radobuljac Silvano
Zagreb
03/04/2012
18/10/2021
9 years and 6 months
3 levels of jurisdiction
Novi Zagreb Municipal Court,
no. P-1019/2016