Type: Judgment

Authority: European Authorities: European Court of human rights

Date: 05/31/2007

Subject: Right to life, right to an effective remedy. The applicant complained that the State had failed to protect the life of her two children. She further complained that it had been impossible for her to make a compensation claim concerning the non-pecuniary damage suffered. She relied on Articles 2, 6 (right to a fair hearing) and 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the Convention. The Chamber also decided to examine the case under Article 13. Decision of the Court Article 2 The Court observed that, under section 2 (1) (a) and (b) of the Police Corps Act of 1993, it was one of the main tasks of the police to protect fundamental rights and freedoms, life and health. The situation in the applicant’s family was known to the local police department given, among other things, the criminal complaint of 2 November 2002 and the emergency phone calls of the night of 26 to 27 December 2002. In response to the applicant’s situation, under the applicable provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and service regulations, the police were obliged, among other things, to: register the applicant’s criminal complaint; launch a criminal investigation and criminal proceedings against the applicant’s husband immediately; keep a proper record of the emergency calls and advise the next shift of the situation; and, take action concerning the allegation that the applicant’s husband had a shotgun and had threatened to use it. However, as the domestic courts established, the police failed to ensure that those obligations were complied with. On the contrary, one of the officers involved assisted the applicant and her husband in modifying her criminal complaint of 2 November 2002 so that it could be treated as a minor offence calling for no further action. As found by the domestic courts, the direct consequence of those failures was the death of the applicant’s children. In the light of its conclusions above, and the Slovakian Government’s acknowledgment that the domestic authorities had failed to take appropriate action to protect the lives of the applicant’s children, the Court found that there had been a violation of Article 2. Article 13 The Court found that the applicant should have been able to apply for compensation for the non-pecuniary damage suffered by herself and her children in connection with their death, but that she had no such remedy available to her, in violation of Article 13.

Parties: Kontrovà c/ Slovacchia

Classification: Dignity - Art. 2 Right to life - Justice - Art. 47 Right to an effective remedy before a tribunal