ains under Article 6 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 that the final judgment of 19 December 2002 was quashed by way of supervisory review. In so far as relevant, these provisions read as follows:
Article 6 § 1
"In the determination of his civil rights and obligations..., everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by [a]... tribunal..."
Article 1 of Protocol No. 1
"Every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions. No one shall be deprived of his possessions except in the public interest and subject to the conditions provided for by law and by the general principles of international law..."
A. Admissibility
15. The Court considers that this complaint is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention. It further notes that it is not inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be declared admissible.
B. Merits
1. Arguments by the parties
16. The Government argued that the supervisory-review proceedings resulting in the quashing of the judgments at issue were lawful: they were initiated by the respondent within the time-limits provided for by domestic law. The Government submitted that the Presidium of the Voronezh Regional Court quashed the judgments of 10 September and 19 December 2002 with a view to correcting the "fundamental defect" committed by the lower courts, in particular their misapplication of relevant domestic law. The Government lay special emphasis on the fact that, by contrast with the Ryabykh case (see Ryabykh v. Russia, No. 52854/99, § 54, ECHR 2003-IX), the supervisory-review proceedings had been initiated by a party to the case, the local branch of the Pension Fund. Finally, the Government maintained that the judgments had been quashed in the applicant's favour as the Presidium's decision entitled him to a higher pension. They concluded that there had been no violation of the applicant's rights under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention or Article 1 of Protocol No. 1.
17. The applicant replied that the judgments of 10 September and 19 December 2002 had been quashed more than three years after becoming binding. He contested the Presidium's finding of the "fundamental defect" allegedly committed by the lower courts in the original judgments. The applicant considered that their quashing had irremediably impaired the principle of legal certainty and violated his right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions, as the amount of his retirement pension had been reduced by three thereafter.
2. The Court's assessment
18. The Court reiterates that legal certainty, which is one of the fundamental aspects of the rule of law, presupposes respect for the principle of res judicata, that is the principle of the finality of judgments. A departure from that principle is justified only when made necessary by circumstances of a substantial and compelling character, such as correction of fundamental defects or miscarriage of justice (see {Brumarescu} v. Romania [GC], No. 28342/95, § 61, ECHR 1999-VII; Ryabykh, cited above, §§ 51 - 52).
19. The Court further recalls that it has already found numerous violations of the Convention on account of the quashing of binding and enforceable judgments by way of supervisory review under the Code of Civil Procedure as in force at the material time. Some of these violations were found in similar and, on certain occasions, virtually identical circumstances involving retired servicemen (see Sergey Petrov v. Russia, No. 1861/05, 10 May 2007; Parolov v. Russia, No. 44543/04, 14 June 2007 and Kulkov and Others, Nos. 25114/03, 11512/03, 9794/05, 37403/05, 13110/06, 19469/06, 42608/06, 44928/06, 44972/06 and 45022/06, 8 January 2009). In those cases the Co
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