Communicated on 3 July 2014
FIRST SECTION
Application no. 35983/14
Milenko SMILJANIĆ and others
against Croatia
lodged on 6 May 2014
STATEMENT OF FACTS
A list of the applicants is set out in the appendix.
The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicants, may be summarised as follows.
The first and the second applicants are parents, and the third applicant sister, of S.S. who was killed in a road accident, caused by D.M. on 7 July2012, who, under the influence of alcohol, drew through the red light and hit him.
D.M. was thirty five times registered in the police records for various traffic offences, including those of drunk driving, speeding and not obeying the road signs. According to the available material, he was also twice finally fined (for speeding and not obeying the road signs) and at the time of the accident the minor offences proceedings were pending against him for drunk driving. However, no preventive or safety measures were ever taken against him.
After the death of the applicants’ relative, the Zagreb Municipal State Attorney’s Office (Općinsko državno odvjetništvo u Zagrebu) carried out on-site inspection and questioned Z.M. and a number of witnesses, and commissioned forensic expert reports concerning the exact cause of death and D.M.’s level of alcohol at the time of the event.
On 17 July 2012 the applicants informed the Zagreb Municipal State Attorney’s Office that they wished to participate in the proceedings.
On 31 July 2012 the Zagreb Municipal State Attorney’s Office indicted Z.M. in the Zagreb Municipal Criminal Court (Općinski kazneni sud u Zagrebu) on charges of causing a road accident with fatal outcome.
At a hearing held on 7 November 2012 D.M. pleaded guilty.
On 5 December 2012 the Zagreb Municipal Criminal Court found D.M. guilty and reduced the minimum sentence provided for the offence at issue under the Criminal Code, sentencing him to two years’ imprisonment and a safety measure of suspension of his driving licence for five years.
The Zagreb Municipal State Attorney’s Office lodged an appeal against the first-instance judgment before the Zagreb County Court (Županijski sud u Zagrebu). The applicants joined arguing that the first-instance court failed to take into account that the death of their relative was a consequence of continuous breaches of the road safety regulations by D.M., and that he was sentenced to a very lenient sentence.
The first-instance judgment was confirmed by the Zagreb County Court on 14 May 2013.
On 2 July 2013 the applicants lodged a constitutional complaint before the Constitutional Court (Ustavni sud Republike Hrvatske) alleging numerous substantive and procedural flaws in the proceedings before the lower courts.
On 16 October 2013 the Constitutional Court declared their constitutional complaint inadmissible on the grounds that the case did not concern any of their civil rights or obligations or any criminal charge against them. This decision was served on the applicants’ representative on 14 November 2013.
Meanwhile the applicants complained before various domestic authorities, notably the High Minor Offences Court (Visoki prekršajni sud Republike Hrvatske) and the Zagreb Minor Offences Court (Prekršajni sud u Zagrebu) as well as the Ministry of Justice (Ministarstvo pravosuđa Republike Hrvatske), about the failure of the State to protect the life of their relative by not taking any measures against D.M. although they were well aware of him constantly breaching the road safety regulations.
On 11 and 15 April 2014 the applicants complained before the sentence-execution judge of the Zagreb County Court that the judgment of the Zagreb Municipal Criminal Court had never been enforced and that D.M. was still using his car.
COMPLAINTS
The applicants complain, under Article 2 of the Convention, that the death of their relative in a road accident was caused by a failure on the part of the domestic authorities to take all necessary preventive measures against the person who had caused the accident; and that the domestic authorities failed to effectively implement relevant criminal law mechanisms concerning their relative’s death.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
Has the applicants’ relative’s right to life, ensured by Article 2 of the Convention, been violated in the present case? In particular, did the domestic authorities comply with their positive obligations, as required by Article 2 of the Convention concerning the death of the applicants’ relative?
The Government are requested to submit two copies of the relevant documents concerning the applicants’ case. In particular, they are requested to provide information as to the measures taken and the outcome of the relevant proceedings concerning the thirty five traffic offences for which D.M. was registered in the police records.
Appendix
Milenko SMILJANIĆ is a Croatian national who was born on 9 March 1952, and lives in Zagreb. Ljiljanka SMILJANIĆ is a Croatian national who was born on 9 March 1952, and lives in Zagreb. Saša SMILJANIĆ is a Croatian national who was born on 28 September 1981, and lives in Zagreb.
The applicants are represented before the Court by Ms I. Bojić, a lawyer practicing in Zagreb.
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy