dgment or decision of any commercial court of the Russian Federation (except for the decisions of the Presidium of the Supreme Commercial Court) was amenable to supervisory review initiated on application by the President of the Supreme Commercial Court, or his deputy, or the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, or his deputy (Articles 180 and 181). The Code did not list the grounds for lodging an application for supervisory review, or the time-limits for doing so. It specified that it could be lodged either on the initiative of the relevant State official or "in connection with a request by a party to the proceedings" (Article 185 § 1). The summoning of parties to a hearing before the Presidium of the Supreme Commercial Court was a discretionary right of the Presidium (Article 186 § 2).
21. The Presidium of the Supreme Commercial Court was the court of final instance within the commercial court system; no appeal lay against its decisions (Article 180 § 1 of the Code).
THE LAW
I. The Government's preliminary objection
22. The Government contended that the application was lodged outside the six-month time-limit established by Article 35 § 1 of the Convention. First, they reiterated their argument that the applicant association had failed to inform the authorities of its new address. Furthermore, the Government claimed that the decision of the Supreme Commercial Court of 26 September 2000 was published in No. 12 of its official bulletin for 2000 and then included in the electronic databases of legal material. Thus, the applicant should have learned of the decision of the Supreme Commercial Court shortly after its official publication.
23. The Court reiterates that it examined the question of compliance with the six-month rule in its decision on admissibility of 2 March 2006 and dismissed the Government's objection. The Court does not in the circumstances of the case see any reason to return to it now. The Court accordingly dismisses the preliminary objection.
II. Alleged violation of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention
24. The applicant association complained that its "right to a court", enshrined in Article 6 of the Convention, had been breached by the quashing of the decision of 17 June 1999, as upheld on 18 October 1999. Article 6 of the Convention, in so far as relevant, reads as follows:
"In the determination of his civil rights and obligations..., everyone is entitled to a fair... hearing... by [a]... tribunal..."
A. The submissions by the parties
25. The Government indicated that the applicant association's right to a court had not been breached. First, the supervisory review had been instigated within a reasonable time after the decision of the Federal Commercial Court. Second, the Presidium of the Supreme Commercial Court had acted in compliance with the Code on Commercial Procedure and, thus, the applicant association had not been unprepared for such a development. Finally, the supervisory review had aimed at remedying a fundamental defect of the proceedings before the lower courts, namely the lack of jurisdiction of the commercial courts to decide on that category of disputes.
26. The applicant association maintained its complaint.
B. The Court's assessment
27. The Court notes that the central issue of the present case is whether the supervisory review procedure was compatible with Article 6 and, more specifically, whether on the facts of the present case the principle of legal certainty was respected.
28. The Court notes that supervisory review procedure within the commercial court system was at the relevant time very similar to the supervisory review in civil proceedings which was brought into focus in the Ryabykh judgment and subsequent cases (see Ryabykh
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