Communicated on 18 December 2014
FIFTH SECTION
Application no. 33944/13
Stepaniya Petrivna LUKASHENKO
against Ukraine
lodged on 14 May 2013
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicant, Ms Stepaniya Petrivna Lukashenko, is a Ukrainian national, who was born in 1940 and lives in Kitsman, Chernivtsi Region.
The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
In March 2003 the applicant’s son (born in 1966) applied to the Kitsman hospital complaining about an abscessed furuncle on his left shoulder. He was operated on and the wound was drained. In April 2003 the applicant’s son was diagnosed with subfascial phlegmon in the right thigh area. In May 2003 the phlegmon developed and covered a part of his visceral area, the right buttock and thigh. The applicant’s son was diagnosed with sepsis.
On 12 May 2003 he underwent another operation. On 15 May 2003 he died from sepsis.
Following these events, the applicant complained to the authorities arguing that her son died because of the negligence of the medical staff of the Kitsman hospital.
On an unspecified date the Kitsman District Prosecutor’s Office, having conducted the pre-investigation enquiries, refused to open criminal proceedings in connection with the death of the applicant’s son.
On 4 November 2003 the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor’s Office quashed that decision as unsubstantiated and ordered further enquiries.
On 19 November 2003 the Kitsman District Prosecutor’s Office opened criminal proceedings on account of the alleged failure of the medical staff to provide treatment to the applicant’s son. The case was referred to the police to carry out the investigation.
On 25 December 2006 the investigator of the Chernivtsi Regional Police Department closed the criminal case for lack of corpus delicti. The applicant challenged that decision in the court.
On 6 April 2007 the Shevchenkivskyy District Court of Chernivtsi quashed that decision as unsubstantiated and ordered further investigation.
On 10 April 2009 the investigator of the Chernivtsi Regional Police Department took another decision to close the criminal case for lack of corpus delicti. The applicant challenged that decision in the court.
On 11 June 2009 the Shevchenkivskyy District Court of Chernivtsi quashed that as unsubstantiated and ordered further investigation.
On an unspecified date the investigator charged M., the surgeon who had treated the applicant’s son in the Kitsman hospital, with negligent performance of professional duties causing serious consequences.
On 30 June 2011 the Kitsman District Court of Chernivtsi Region (“the Kitsman Court”) closed the criminal proceedings as time-barred. The defendant appealed against that decision.
On 18 October 2011 the Kitsman Court suspended the civil proceedings instituted by the applicant against M. for damages, noting that it was not possible to examine the civil claim at the time when the relevant criminal case was pending.
On 28 February 2012 the Chernivtsi Regional Court of Appeal quashed the decision of 30 June 2011 and referred the criminal case to the first-instance court for a fresh examination.
On 10 October 2013 the Kitsman Court closed the criminal proceedings as time-barred.
COMPLAINT
The applicant complains that the domestic investigations and further proceedings concerning the circumstances of her son’s death in hospital were ineffective.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
Having regard to the procedural protection of the right to life, were the domestic proceedings in the present case in breach of Article 2 of the Convention?
The Government are invited to provide:
(a) a chronological list of pre-investigative, investigative, and judicial measures taken in respect of the applicant’s complaint;
(b) copies of the relevant documents concerning respective domestic proceedings, including the documents concerning the date of introduction of the civil claim by the applicant and the decisions taken on them by the domestic authorities.
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