Eriş v. Turkey (28268/02)

Date	20080108
Article	6(1)
Decision	violation

Violation of Article 6 § 1 (length)

Eriş v. Turkey (no. 28268/02)

The applicant, Ali Eriş, is a Turkish national who was born in 1932 and lives in Istanbul. The case concerned Mr Eriş’s complaint about having been ill-treated when arrested by the police in September 1999 and the length (more than six years and seven months) of the criminal proceedings against him on charges of taking part in an illegal demonstration. The Court found that the evidence in the case file did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that excessive force had been used to arrest the applicant and declared, unanimously, that the applicant’s complaint under Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) was inadmissible. The Court held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial within a reasonable time) and awarded the applicant EUR 900 in respect of non-pecuniary damage. (The judgment is available only in English.)