Halıs Akın v. Turkey (30304/02)

Date	20090113
Article	2
Decision	violation

The applicant, Halis Akın, is a Turkish national who was born in 1953 and lives in Van (Turkey). In June 2001 he was injured by shots fired by gendarmes as he was bringing sheep down from their pasture. The related judicial proceedings were discontinued because the Turkish courts found that the gendarmes had acted in accordance with section 11(3) of the Contraband Act (Law no. 1918). Relying on Article 2 (right to life), the applicant complained, in particular, that at the relevant time the legislation governing the use of firearms in frontier areas had been incompatible with the Convention. The Court held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 2 and awarded the applicant EUR 10,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage and EUR 1,100 for costs and expenses. (The judgment is available only in French.)