that the applicants had had effective domestic remedies, as required by Article 13 of the Convention, but had been unwilling to make use of them. They submitted that the first, fifth and twenty-third applicants had been granted victim status and therefore had been afforded procedural rights in the criminal proceedings, and in particular, the right to give oral and other evidence, to file motions, to receive copies of procedural decision, and to access the case file and make copies of the materials of the file on completion of the investigation. The Government further argued that if the applicants had considered that any action or omission of public officials had caused them damage, they could have sought compensation for that damage in court by virtue of the relevant provisions of the Russian Civil Code. In support of this argument, the Government referred to decisions by the domestic courts, which they submitted to the Court (see paragraph 67 above).
A. Admissibility
121. The Court reiterates that, according to its case-law, Article 13 applies only where an individual has an "arguable claim" to be the victim of a violation of a Convention right. In view of the Court's findings above with regard to Articles 2 and 5 as well as in respect of the applicants' complaint concerning the alleged ill-treatment of their relatives under Article 3 of the Convention, the applicants clearly had an arguable claim for the purposes of Article 13 (see Boyle and Rice v. the United Kingdom, 27 April 1988, § 52, Series A No. 131). The Court therefore notes that the applicants' complaints under Article 13 in conjunction with Articles 2, 3, in so far as the alleged ill-treatment of the applicants' relatives was concerned, and Article 5 of the Convention are not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention. It further notes that they are not inadmissible on any other grounds. They must therefore be declared admissible.
122. As regards the applicants' complaints under Article 13 in conjunction with Article 3, in so far as it concerned the applicants' mental suffering, and Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, the Court notes that in paragraphs 107 and 115 above it has declared inadmissible the applicants' relevant complaints under Article 3 and 6 § 1 of the Convention, which have not been substantiated. Accordingly, the applicants did not have an "arguable claim" of a violation of substantive Convention provisions and, therefore, Article 13 of the Convention is inapplicable to this part of the application. It follows that this aspect of the applicants' complaint under Article 13 must be rejected as incompatible ratione materiae with the Convention provisions, in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.
123. In so far as the applicants relied on Article 13 in conjunction with Article 8 of the Convention, the Court has noted above that the applicants did not attempt to lodge any complaints regarding the alleged searches before the domestic authorities. On the assumption that the applicants considered that there had been no effective domestic remedies to exhaust, the Court finds that they should have lodged this complaint within six months from the date on which the searches took place. In view of its above finding that the applicants' complaint under Article 8 was lodged out of time (see paragraph 117 above), the Court further finds that the applicants' complaint under Article 13 in conjunction with Article 8 is also time barred. It follows that this part of the application must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.
B. Merits
124. The Court reiterates that Article 13 of the Convention guarantees the availability at the national level of a remedy to enforce the substance of the Convention rights and freedoms in whatever form t
> 1 2 3 ... 18 19 20 ... 24 25 26
Zaki.ru законы и право
поиск по сайту
каталог документов
добавить сайт Zaki.ru в избранное
Правовые акты международные
Правовые акты Российской Федерации
