Information Note on the Court’s case-law No. 113
November 2008
Miroshnik v. Ukraine - 75804/01
Judgment 27.11.2008 [Section V]
Article 6
Civil proceedings
Article 6-1
Independent tribunal
Administrative and material dependence of military courts and their members vis-à-vis the Ministry of Defence: violation
Facts: The applicant instituted proceedings in a regional military court against the Ministry of Defence contesting the lawfulness of his dismissal from the military and seeking compensation for damage. In 2001 the military court returned the applicant's claim for failure to indicate all the required particulars of the claim and to enclose any evidence in its support, as required by the legislation.
Law: Under domestic law, the judges of the military courts were military servicemen, and in that capacity they constituted a part of the staff of the Armed Forces subordinate to the Ministry of Defence. It was up to the Ministry of Defence to provide the judges of the military courts with appropriate flats or houses if they needed to improve their living conditions. Finally, Ministry of Defence entities tended to the financing, logistics and maintenance of the military courts on a practical level. This procedure for financing the military courts had been repealed in 2002. The above aspects of the status of the military courts and their judges, taken cumulatively, had given objective grounds for the applicant to doubt whether the military courts complied with the requirement of independence when dealing with his claim against the Ministry of Defence. The applicant had therefore not had an opportunity to present his case before an independent tribunal.
Conclusion: violation (unanimously).
Article 41 – EUR 2,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage.
© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights
This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.
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