Communicated on 11 September 2018
FOURTH SECTION
Application no. 57706/10
Vadym Yegorovych YAKUSHENKO
against Ukraine
lodged on 21 September 2010
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The application concerns the fairness of the proceedings, instituted by the applicant in 2001, in which he contested the sale of his flat by a third person claiming that the power of attorney used by the latter for the sale had been forged. The applicant relied, inter alia, on the fact that the notary, whose signature appeared on the disputed power of attorney, submitted that she had never attested the delegation of power by the applicant and had not registered the power of attorney at issue. Despite that statement by the notary, the trial court found that there had been no evidence to conclude that the applicant’s signature on the power of attorney had been forged and to invalidate the sale contract. In doing so, the court admitted the statement by the notary (denying the fact of certifying the power of attorney), but avoided examining that statement on the grounds that a copy of the extract from the notary’s register of deeds, which she had submitted to the court, had not been duly signed by her. The final decision in the case had been delivered by the Supreme Court of Ukraine on 14 May 2010.
Relying on Articles 6 and 13 of the Convention, the applicant complains that the domestic courts have failed to duly examine his arguments, in particular those concerning invalidity of the respective power of attorney, and to assess the relevant evidence, which was a key issue for the outcome of the proceedings.
QUESTIONS tO THE PARTIES
1. Were the proceedings in the present case fair for the purposes of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention? Did the domestic courts comply with their obligation to give reasons for their decisions and to reply to specific, pertinent and important arguments by the parties (see, for instance, Benderskiy v. Ukraine, no. 22750/02, 15 November 2007)?
2. Did the applicant have at his disposal an effective domestic remedy for his Convention complaint, as required by Article 13 of the Convention?
Your Government is requested to provide copies of all relevant documents, including the applicant’s appeal against the judgment of the Malinovskiy District Court of Odesa of 6 March 2009, requests made by the trial court to the notary who certified the power of attorney of 1 August 2001 and submissions in reply.
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