Çengelli and Eryılmaz v. Turkey (287/03)

Date	20080610
Article	6(1)
Decision	violation

Violation of Article 6 § 1 (length)

Çengelli and Eryılmaz v. Turkey (no. 287/03)

The applicants, Ferit Çengelli and Süleyman Eryılmaz, are Turkish nationals who were born in 1955 and 1957 respectively and live in Istanbul.

The applicants were arrested in March 1981 on charges of membership of the Dev-Yol, an illegal organisation. The proceedings against Mr Çengelli were terminated in June 2001 on the ground that the statutory time-limit had expired. They had lasted more than 20 years. The proceedings against Mr Eryılmaz have so far lasted 27 years and are apparently still pending. The case concerned the applicants’ complaint about the excessive length of the proceedings against them. They relied on Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial within a reasonable time).

The Court held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 and awarded EUR 10,800 to Ferit Çengelli and EUR 19,200 to Süleyman Eryılmaz in respect of non-pecuniary damage. (The judgment is available only in English.)