Habip Çiftçi v. Turkey (28485/03)

Date	20080923
Article	5(3), 6(1)
Decision	violation

Violation of Article 5 §§ 3 and 4

Violation of Article 6 § 1 (length)

Habip Çiftçi v. Turkey (no. 28485/03)

The applicant, Habip Çiftçi, is a Turkish national who was born in 1973 and is currently serving life imprisonment in Ümraniye Prison, Istanbul, for membership of an illegal organisation.

The case concerned the applicant’s complaint about the excessive length of his detention on remand and the lack of a remedy to challenge the lawfulness of that detention as well as the excessive length of the criminal proceedings against him. He relied on Article 5 §§ 3 and 4 (right to liberty and security) and Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial within a reasonable time).

The Court held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 5 § 3 on account of the excessive length, more than 12 years and four months, of the applicant’s detention on remand, and a violation of Article 5 § 4 as any existing remedy at that time to challenge the lawfulness of that detention had little chance of success in practice. The Court further held that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 on account of the excessive length, 13 years, of the criminal proceedings. Mr Çiftçi was awarded EUR 15,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage and EUR 2,000 for costs and expenses. (The judgment is available only in English.)