Published on 18 December 2023
SECOND SECTION
Application no. 1384/18
Hasan YILMAZ and Barış YILMAZ
against Türkiye
lodged on 21 December 2017
communicated on 27 November 2023
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The application concerns compensation proceedings brought by the applicants against a State authority and a doctor before the civil courts for medical negligence. The expert report obtained during the domestic proceedings assessed the amount of pecuniary damages suffered by the applicants to be higher than the amounts initially claimed by them. Nevertheless, the applicants were only awarded the initial amount indicated in their petition when they had instituted the proceedings. The applicants complain that despite the explicit provision in Article 107 of the Code of Civil Procedure providing for claimants to bring proceedings without indicating the definite amount of compensation sought (belirsiz alacak davası), the civil court refused to award the additional amount of pecuniary damage indicated in the relevant expert report on the grounds that the ten-year limitation period had expired at the time of submission of the expert report and the applicants’ request to amend the compensation amount.
The applicants complain that they were denied the right of access to a court in breach of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
Were the applicants denied the right of access to a court, in respect of the amount of compensation established in the relevant expert report (see, inter alia, Fatma Nur Erten and Adnan Erten v. Turkey, no. 14674/11, §§ 24 et seq., 25 November 2014; Mikail Tüzün v. Turkey, no. 42507/06, § 23, 27 November 2018 and Yargı v. Turkey [Committee], no. 22684/10, §§ 40- 43, 27 April 2021)?
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