Ali Güzel v. Turkey (43955/02)

Date	20081021
Article	8
Decision	violation

Violation of Article 8

Ali Güzel v. Turkey (no. 43955/02)

The applicant, Ali Güzel, is a Turkish national who was born in 1976 and lives in İzmir (Turkey). At the relevant time he was a prisoner in the Izmir F-type prison.

Mr Güzel complained that the prison administration was refusing to deliver his correspondence with another prisoner. He relied on Articles 8 (right to respect for private and family life) and 13 (right to an effective remedy).

The Court observed that it had already found that Articles 144 and 147 of Regulation no. 647 on the management of penitentiary institutions and the enforcement of sentences did not indicate with sufficient clarity the scope and manner of exercise of the authorities’ discretion regarding the monitoring of prisoners’ correspondence. It had also noted that their application in practice did not appear to make up for that shortcoming. The Court therefore took the view that the interference with the applicant’s right to respect for his correspondence had not been “in accordance with the law” and accordingly held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 8. It further ruled that it was not necessary to examine separately the applicant’s complaint under Article 13. Lastly, it held that the finding of a violation provided in itself sufficient just satisfaction for the non-pecuniary damage sustained by the applicant and awarded him EUR 500 for costs and expenses. (The judgment is available only in French.)