Information Note on the Court’s case-law No. 123
October 2009
Selahattin Çetinkaya and Others v. Turkey - 31504/02
Judgment 20.10.2009 [Section II]
Article 41
Just satisfaction
Awards in respect of non-pecuniary damage: no additional award in respect of applicants whose victim status derives from legal connection with the original party to the impugned domestic proceedings
Facts – The application related to two sets of proceedings concerning the allocation of plots of land. The applicants became parties to the proceedings after the death of their relatives.
Law – Article 6 § 1: The Court held that the proceedings in question had not complied with the reasonable-time requirement.
Conclusion: violation (unanimously).
Article 13: The Court noted the absence of a remedy in domestic law by which the applicants could have asserted their right to have their case heard within a reasonable time within the meaning of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.
Conclusion: violation (unanimously).
Article 41: Where a violation of Article 6 of the Convention was found on account of the excessive length of proceedings brought by a group of individuals acting together who relied on the same factual and legal grounds and pursued the same aims, each of them could, in principle and without prejudice to the applicable rules, claim individual compensation in respect of non-pecuniary damage. The situation was different where a group of applicants derived its victim status from a legal link to a single initial party to the impugned domestic proceedings. This could arise, for instance, where the original party to the case was replaced by his heirs following his death or by the administrators of the estate after being declared bankrupt, or in the case of assignment of a debt. In such situations there was no need for the Court to take account of the number of applicants in deciding on the amount to be awarded, particularly since the increase in their number was not imputable to the respondent party. In the instant case the applicants had succeeded their relatives who had, in turn, succeeded their relatives, the initial parties to the impugned proceedings. The Court awarded the applicants EUR 20,000 jointly in respect of non-pecuniary damage.
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This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.
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