Communicated on 13 July 2017
FIRST SECTION
Application no. 54916/16
Stoja TRIVKANOVIĆ
against Croatia
lodged on 15 September 2016
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicant, Ms Stoja Trivkanović, is a Croatian national who was born in 1950 and lives in Sisak. She is represented before the Court by Mr L. Šušak, a lawyer practising in Zagreb.
A. The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
The applicant brought civil proceedings seeking damages from the State for the killing of her two sons, Z.T. and B.T., allegedly by members of the Croatian police. The claim was dismissed as statute-barred. A final decision was adopted on 28 February 2002 by the Supreme Court.
On 9 December 2013 V.M. was found guilty of war crimes against the civilian population in that, in his capacity as “the commander of police forces in the broader area of Sisak and Banovina” and “Deputy Head of the Sisak Police”, he had allowed the killings of persons of Serbian origin and had failed to undertake adequate measures to prevent such killings, including the killing of the applicant’s two sons. V.M’s conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court. Those judgments were served on the applicant on 27 July 2014.
On 1 August 2014 the applicant sought the reopening of the civil proceedings for damages. Her application was dismissed on the grounds that it had been lodged outside the five-year time-limit. A final decision was adopted by the Constitutional Court on 21 April 2016.
B. Relevant domestic law
The relevant provisions of the Civil Obligations Act (Zakon o obveznim odnosima, Official Gazette nos. 53/1991, 73/1991, 3/1994, 7/1996, 112/1999), as in force at the material time, read as follows:
Section 360
“(1) The right to claim fulfilment of an obligation shall cease when the statutory limitation period has expired.
(2) The statute of limitations [bars a right to claim] when the statutorily prescribed period in which a creditor could have claimed fulfilment of an obligation has expired.
...”
Section 376
“(1) A claim for damages shall become statute-barred three years after the injured party learned about the damage and the identity of the person who caused it.
(2) In any event, that claim shall become statute-barred five years after the damage occurred.
...”
Section 377
“(1) Where the damage was the result of a criminal offence and the statutory limitation period for criminal prosecution is longer, the claim for damages against the person responsible becomes statute-barred at the same time as the criminal prosecution.
(2) The interruption of the statutory limitation period in respect of criminal prosecution entails the interruption of the statutory limitation period in respect of a claim for damages.
...”
COMPLAINT
The applicant complains under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention that her right of access to a court was violated.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
Did the applicant have access to a court in respect of her civil action for compensation for damage caused by the death of her two sons, as required under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention?
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