Volkan Şahin v. Turkey (34400/02)

Date	20080520
Article	6(1), 13
Decision	violation

Violation of Article 6 § 1 (length and fairness)

Violation of Article 13

Volkan Şahin v. Turkey (no. 34400/02)

The applicant, Volkan Şahin, is a Turkish national who was born in 1965 and lives in Antalya (Turkey).

In May 1993 the applicant was questioned concerning an accusation against him of forgery. He was subsequently charged with that offence and ultimately convicted and sentenced in February 2002 to one year and eight months’ imprisonment. The case concerned the applicant’s complaint about the length and unfairness of the criminal proceedings against him. He relied on Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial within a reasonable time) and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy).

The Court considered that the length of the criminal proceedings (almost eight years and nine months) against the applicant had been excessive and therefore held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 and Article 13. The Court held, as in a number of cases raising a similar issue, that there had been a further violation of Article 6 § 1 on account of the public prosecutor’s written opinion not having been made available to the applicant. Mr Şahin was awarded EUR 3,500 in respect of non-pecuniary damage and EUR 1,000 for costs and expenses. (The judgment is available only in English.)