's lawyer.
11. The applicant lodged an appeal before the Military Court of the Urals Command. The court heard the applicant, a representative of the Privolzhsko-Uralskiy military commander. A prosecutor was also present. At the end of the hearing, he made a statement, exercising a right conferred on him by the Civil Procedure Code 1964, in force at the material time (see paragraph 14 below). The applicant was not afforded an opportunity to comment on the above statement. On 25 April 2002 the Military Court of the Urals Command upheld the judgment on appeal. It considered that, as confirmed by the applicant, he had first learnt about the violation of his right on 27 February 1998; that his references to the contracts concluded by the State authorities had been irrelevant for his claim.
II. Relevant domestic law
A. Statutory time-limits and limitation periods
12. Under Articles 195 and 196 of the Civil Code, the general limitation period for claiming protection of a violated right amounted to three years.
13. Under Article 239-5 § 1 of the RSFSR Code of Civil Procedure a complaint against unlawful actions by a public official should be lodged with the competent court no later than three months from the date on which the person concerned became aware of the violation of his or her rights or freedoms. By a ruling of 14 February 2000 the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of Russia held that if a military officer's complaint against unlawful actions of military authorities contained a claim for the redress in respect of the alleged violation of his or her right, the three-month time-limit should not apply (§ 12).
B. Participation of public prosecutors in cases outside
the sphere of criminal law
14. Both in first-instance and appeal proceedings, a party could challenge the prosecutor participating in the proceedings on account of his or her previous participation in the case in a different capacity, his next-of-kin status in relation to a party or other persons involved in the case, or if the prosecutor had an interest in the outcome of the case or if other circumstances indicated his partiality (Articles 18, 20 and 297 of the RSFSR Code of Civil Procedure).
15. After the oral pleading by the parties but before the court's deliberations, the prosecutor was allowed to give his conclusions as to the lawfulness and reasonableness of the court decision (Articles 303 and 304). The parties could not comment on the above conclusions.
III. Relevant council of Europe documents
16. The relevant part of the Parliamentary Assembly's Resolution 1604 (2003) On the Role of the Public Prosecutor's Office in a Democratic Society Governed by the Rule of Law reads as follows:
"it is essential:
a. that any role for prosecutors in the general protection of human rights does not give rise to any conflict of interest or act as a deterrent to individuals seeking state protection of their rights;
b. that an effective separation of state power between branches of government is respected in the allocation of additional functions to prosecutors, with complete independence of the public prosecution from intervention on the level of individual cases by any branch of government; and
c. that the powers and responsibilities of prosecutors are limited to the prosecution of criminal offences and a general role in defending public interest through the criminal justice system, with separate, appropriately located and effective bodies established to discharge any other functions..."
17. The European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) at its 63rd plenary session (10 - 11 June 2005) adopted an Opinion on the Prosecutor's Offices Act (see above). Its relevant provisions provide as fo
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