Information Note on the Court’s case-law No.
April 1998
Mavronichis v. Cyprus - 28054/95
Judgment 24.4.1998
Article 6
Civil proceedings
Article 6-1
Reasonable time
Length of proceedings instituted to obtain compensation following successful annulment of administrative act rejecting candidature for a public-sector post: violation
[This summary is extracted from the Court’s official reports (Series A or Reports of Judgments and Decisions). Its formatting and structure may therefore differ from the Case-Law Information Note summaries.]
I.ARTICLE 6 § 1 OF THE CONVENTION
A.Applicability
Compensation proceedings instituted by applicant not concerned with his recruitment to public-sector post – sole aim of civil action was to obtain compensation for damage – having regard to provisions of domestic law, arguable grounds for concluding that right to seek compensation accrued to applicant after he had successfully secured annulment of administrative act – compensation proceedings involved a determination of a purely pecuniary right having a basis in domestic law – private-law features of those proceedings outweighed public-law features.
Conclusion: Article 6 § 1 applicable (unanimously).
B.Compliance
Reiteration of Court’s case-law on reasonable time requirement – issues raised by compensation proceedings not complex – no steps taken by registry of Supreme Court to deal with applicant’s appeal during a period of four years and two months – delay cannot be excused on account of workload of Supreme Court – excessive delay imputable to authorities.
Conclusion: violation (unanimously).
II.ARTICLE 50 OF THE CONVENTION
A.Pecuniary damage: No causal connection between violation of the Convention and alleged pecuniary loss – claim dismissed.
B.Non-pecuniary damage: Sum awarded for anxiety and stress induced by unreasonable length of proceedings.
C.Costs and expenses: Claim allowed in part.
Conclusion: respondent State to pay specified sums to applicant for non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses (unanimously).
© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights
This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.
Click here for the Case-Law Information Notes
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy