Cığerhun Öner v. Turkey (33612/03)

Date	20080520
Article	5(3)
Decision	violation

Violation of Article 6 § 1 (fairness)

Cığerhun Öner v. Turkey (no. 33612/03)

The applicant, Ciğerhun Öner, is a Turkish national who was born in 1989 and lives in Izmir (Turkey).

In October 2001, when he was 12 years old, the applicant was arrested and taken into custody on suspicion of theft. Relying on Articles 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial) and 13 (right to an effective remedy), the applicant complained of the rejection of his request for legal aid with regard to an action for damages he had brought against the Turkish State for ill-treatment suffered while in police custody.

The Court noted that neither the applicant nor his mother had an income, and that they had provided evidence of their financial hardship. It also stressed that Turkish law did not allow for the possibility of challenging the courts’ evaluation of the merits of requests for legal aid. Consequently, it considered that the rejection of the applicant’s request had deprived him of the possibility of having his case heard by a court, and concluded unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1. It also held unanimously that it was not necessary to examine separately the complaint under Article 13. It awarded Mr Öner EUR 7,500 for non-pecuniary damage. (The judgment is available only in French.)