Application No. 10574/83
KOEN NYSSEN
against
BELGIUM
&S
REPORT OF THE COMMISSION
adopted on 8 July 1987
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION .................................... 2
Part I : STATEMENT OF THE FACTS ................ 4
Part II : SOLUTION REACHED ...................... 5
&_INTRODUCTION&S
1. This Report relates to Application No. 10574/83 introduced by
Koen Nyssen against Belgium on 17 June 1983 under Article 25 of the
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms. The application was registered on 3 October 1983.
The applicant was represented by Mrs. L. Versluys-Dunesme, a
lawyer practising in Leuven.
The Government were represented by their Agent, Mr. J. Niset
of the Ministry of Justice.
On 10 October 1985, the European Commission of Human Rights
declared admissible the applicant's complaint that military courts
cannot be considered as independent and impartial tribunals for the
trial of a civilian who, for political and conscientious reasons,
refuses to perform either military or substituted civilian service.
The Commission declared inadmissible the applicant's complaint
under Article 7 that he was prosecuted in an unjustified way, because
this complaint was not introduced within six months after the final
decision.*
The Commission then proceeded to carry out its task under
Article 28 of the Convention which provides as follows:
"In the event of the Commission accepting a petition
referred to it:
(a) it shall, with a view to ascertaining the facts,
undertake together with the representatives of the parties
an examination of the petition and, if need be, an
investigation, for the effective conduct of which the
States concerned shall furnish all necessary facilities,
after an exchange of views with the Commission;
(b) it shall place itself at the disposal of the parties
concerned with a view to securing a friendly settlement
of the matter on the basis of respect for Human Rights as
defined in this Convention."
-----------
* The Commission's decision on the admissibility is public
and can be obtained from the Commission's Secretary.
3. The Commission found that the parties had reached a friendly
settlement of the case and on 8 July 1987 it adopted this Report
which, in accordance with Article 30 of the Convention, is confined
to a brief statement of the facts and of the solution reached. The
following members of the Commission were present when the Report was
adopted:
MM. C. A. NØRGAARD, President
J. A. FROWEIN
E. BUSUTTIL
G. JÖRUNDSSON
G. TENEKIDES
S. TRECHSEL
B. KIERNAN
A. WEITZEL
H. G. SCHERMERS
H. DANELIUS
G. BATLINER
H. VANDENBERGHE
Mrs. G. H. THUNE
Sir Basil HALL
Mr. F. MARTINEZ
Part I
STATEMENT OF THE FACTS
4. The applicant is a Belgian citizen, born in 1961 and a
resident of Lanaken, Belgium.
5. The application concerns the trial before military courts of a
conscript who, for political and conscientious reasons, refuses to
perform either military or substituted civilian service.
6. The Court of Cassation (Hof van Cassatie) held on
22 February 1983, inter alia, that officers who hold a judicial
post are obliged to conduct themselves in an independent manner with
respect to the parties in the proceedings before them and vis-à-vis
all authorities. The Court considered that it did not appear that the
officer-members of the Military Court of Appeal had failed to respect
their obligation to independence and impartiality.
7. Before the Commission the applicant complained that military
courts cannot be considered as independent and impartial tribunals for
the trial of a civilian who, for political and conscientious reasons,
refuses to perform military or substituted civilian service. He
alleged that the military courts wrongly considered him to have
military status whereas he claims to have retained his civilian status
by informing the authorities of his conscientious objections.
8. The application was introduced on 17 June 1983 and registered
on 3 October 1983.
9. On 2 October 1984, the Commission decided to communicate the
application to the Government under Rule 42 (2) (b) of the
Commission's Rules of Procedure.
10. The Government's observations were submitted on 7 February
1985, the applicant's observations in reply on 4 April 1985.
11. On 10 October 1985, the Commission declared the application
admissible.
12. A hearing on the merits was held on 11 March 1986.
Part II
SOLUTION REACHED
13. Following its decision on the admissibility of the
application, the Commission placed itself at the disposal of the
parties with a view to securing a friendly settlement in accordance
with Article 28 (b) of the Convention and invited the parties to
submit any proposals they wished to make.
14. In accordance with its usual practice the Commission
instructed its Secretary to contact the parties for this purpose.
Following an exchange of correspondence channelled through the
Secretary of the Commission the Agent of the Government, by letter of
30 March 1987, made the following declaration:
"... j'ai l'honneur de porter à votre connaissance
les modalités concrètes soumises par le Gouvernement
en vue de parvenir à un règlement amiable dans
l'affaire NYSSEN.
1° M. NYSSEN ayant déjà subi 306 jours de détention les
deux mois d'emprisonnement qu'il lui restait à subir
avant de pouvoir être libéré comme les insoumis se trouvant
dans son cas seraient remplacés par un service de même
durée (deux mois) à effectuer à temps plein dans l'un des
organismes ou services repris à l'article 21 des lois
coordonnées du 20 février 1980 portant le statut des
objecteurs de conscience, étant entendu qu'il aurait à
rechercher lui-même l'organisme ou le service disposé à
l'employer pendant cette durée.
2° En cas d'accord avec cette proposition, M. NYSSEN
ferait parvenir à l'Auditeur général près la Cour
militaire, palais de Justice, place Poelaert à
1000-Bruxelles, un écrit par lequel il s'engagerait à
effectuer ce service dans le délai d'un an à dater de
l'arrêté de grâce qui serait alors proposé au Roi.
3° Dès réception de cet écrit, l'Auditeur général
introduirait une proposition d'arrêté de grâce sous
condition résolutoire tendant à l'octroi d'un sursis
de cinq ans pour l'emprisonnement restant à subir, la
condition étant de remplir l'engagement prévu au 2°
ci-dessus.
4° Suite à l'arrêté de grâce, M. NYSSEN serait désignalé
au B.C.S. et pourrait en conséquence rentrer librement en
Belgique. Il disposerait alors du délai d'un an pour faire
parvenir à l'Auditeur général une attestation émanant de
l'un des organismes visés au 1° et certifiant que le service
a bien été effectué à temps plein pendant deux mois.
5° A défaut de recevoir cette attestation dans le delai
prévu, l'Auditeur général prendrait les dispositions
nécessaires pour faire exécuter l'emprisonnement restant
à subir par M. NYSSEN.
Le Gouvernement rappelle enfin que M. NYSSEN, en
application des articles 621 et suivants du Code
d'instruction criminelle et à condition de respecter
les conditions prévues par ceux-ci, jouit de la
possibilité de solliciter sa réhabilitation dont l'octroi,
toutefois, relève de la seule décision des autorités
judiciaires."
(Translation)
"... I have the honour to inform you of the precise
proposals made by the Government with a view to securing
a friendly settlement in the Nyssen case.
1) As Mr. Nyssen has already spent 306 days in detention,
the two months of imprisonment which he still has to
undergo before he can be discharged like other
objectors in a comparable position, will be replaced by
full-time substituted civilian service of the same length
(two months). This substituted civilian service must be
performed in one of the organisations or services set out
in Article 21 of the co-ordinated laws of 20 February 1980,
containing the statute of conscientious objectors. It will
be understood that the applicant himself will have to find
an organisation or service which is prepared to accept him
for these months.
2) If Mr. Nyssen agrees with this proposition, he should
send a letter to the Auditeur General attached to the
Military Court, Palace of Justice, Place Poelaert,
1000-Brussels, undertaking to perform this service within
a period of one year from the date of the pardon, which
will thereupon be put to the King.
3) On receipt of the letter referred to above, the Auditeur
General will request a pardon which would grant the
applicant a suspension of five years of the remainder of
the term of imprisonment, such pardon being conditioned on
the fulfilment of the undertaking referred to at paragraph
2) above.
4) Following the act of pardon, Mr. Nyssen will be removed
from the list of the B.C.S. (Bulletin Central de
Signalement) and will consequently be able to return to
Belgium freely. He will have one year to send the Auditeur
General a declaration from one of the organisations referred
to at paragraph 1) above, certifying that the substituted
civilian service has actually been performed full-time for
two months.
5) If the Auditeur General does not receive this declaration
within the period agreed, he will take the necessary measures
to execute the remainder of the term of imprisonment to be
served by Mr. Nyssen.
The Government finally recalls that, pursuant to Article 621
et seq. of the Code of Criminal Instruction and on condition
that the above-mentioned conditions have been fulfilled,
Mr. Nyssen has the possibility to request his rehabilitation,
which depends, however, solely on a decision by the judicial
authorities.
..."
15. The applicant's representative, by letter of 14 May 1987,
submitted the following declaration on behalf of the applicant:
"With reference to Application No. 10574/83 pending
before the Commission of Human Rights and in view of
declaration made by the Belgian Government on
30 March 1987, I hereby accept, on behalf of Mr. K. Nyssen,
the offer contained in that declaration and declare the
Application No. 10574/83 to be settled.
My declaration is made in view of the settlement within
the meaning of Article 28 (b) of the European Convention
on Human Rights which has been reached in co-operation
with the European Commission of Human Rights in the
proceedings concerning this application."
16. On 8 July 1987 the Commission noted that the parties had
reached agreement regarding the terms of settlement. The Commission
found, having regard to Article 28 (b) of the Convention, that a
friendly settlement of the present application had been secured on the
basis of respect for Human Rights as defined in the Convention.
For these reasons, the Commission adopted this Report.
Secretary to the Commission President of the Commission
(H.C. KRÜGER) (C.A. NØRGAARD)