Communicated on 5 July 2016
FIRST SECTION
Application no. 73776/14
Elena IOPPA against Ukraine
and 3 other applications
(see list appended)
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applications concern the events following the incident with the Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight that occurred on 17 July 2014. The applicants are relatives of the deceased incident victims. They are represented before the Court by Mr Elmar Giemulla, a lawyer practicing in Berlin.
The first applicant is Ms Elena Ioppa (application no. 73776/14, lodged on 24 November 2014), a citizen of Germany, born in 1970. She resides in Rheine, Germany. She is the mother of Ms Olga Ioppa, born on 2 December 1991, who was a passenger on the flight MH17.
The second applicant is Mr Tim Lauschet (application no. 973/15, lodged on 18 December 2014). He is German national born in 1991. He resides in Stanhope Gardens, Australia. He is the son of Ms Gabrielle Lauschet, born in 1965, passenger on the flight MH17.
The third applicant is Mr Chris Kenke (application no. 4407/15, lodged on 12 January 2015). He is a German national, born in 1988. He resides in Buxtehude, Germany. He is the son of Mr Wilhelmus Theorodorus Maria Grootscholten, born in 1960, passenger of the flight MH17.
The fourth applicant is Ms Denise Kenke (application no. 4412/15, lodged on 13 January 2015). She is a German national, born in 1984. She is the daughter of Mr Wilhelmus Theorodorus Maria Grootscholten, born in 1960, passenger on the MH17 flight.
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicants, may be summarised as follows.
On 17 July 2014, at 13:20 (15:20 CET), a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777‑200 with registration marks 9M-MRD disappeared to the west of “Tamak” air navigation waypoint in Ukraine. The flight was on its way from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board of the airplane.
The airplane was under control of the Ukrainian air traffic authority and was operated by a licensed and qualified flight crew. It flew at the allowed height of 33,000 feet (approximately 10,000 metres).
The airplane disintegrated in the airspace and impacted the ground in the eastern part of Ukraine, with the wreckage spread over several sites near the villages of Hrabove, Rozsypne and Petropavlivka. Six wreckage sites were identified, spread over 50 square kilometres overall. All 298 persons on board of the MH17 flight lost their lives.
COMPLAINTS
Relying on Article 2 of the Convention, the applicants claim that the Ukrainian authorities failed to protect the relatives’ life by not completely closing the airspace above the ongoing armed conflict in the region through which the MH17 flight passed. \* MERGEFORMATIn particular, the applicants complain that failure to close the airspace was intentional, that the authorities knew of the danger of flights above the military conflict zone but undertook no action to close the airspace. The applicants submitted that the Ukrainian authorities’ intentional failure to close the airspace above the military conflict zone resulted in death of the applicants’ relatives.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. Had the applicants exhausted all effective domestic remedies, as required by Article 35 § 1 of the Convention?
In particular, what kind of domestic remedies in Ukraine were available to the applicants?
2. Furthermore, did the applicants invoke before the national authorities, at least in substance, the right under Article 2 on which they now wished to rely before the Court?
APPENDIX:
No
Application No
Lodged on
Applicant
Date of birth
Place of residence
Represented by
73776/14
24/11/2014
Elena IOPPA
18/08/1970
Rheine
Elmar GIEMULLA
973/15
18/12/2014
Tim LAUSCHET
28/02/1991
Stanhope Gardens
Elmar GIEMULLA
4407/15
12/01/2015
Chris KENKE
02/07/1988
Buxtehude
Elmar GIEMULLA
4412/15
13/01/2015
Denise KENKE
10/10/1984
Buxtehude
Elmar GIEMULLA
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy