CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 26 novembre 2013

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margin-left:17pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-indent:-17pt; text-align:justify } .s48DB3670 { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:36pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s7CB9076 { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:0pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .sFCF63115 { width:173.58pt; display:inline-block } .s7602FED2 { width:18.21pt; display:inline-block } .sC1AC44A4 { width:228.11pt; display:inline-block }     THIRD SECTION               CASE OF VLAD AND OTHERS v. ROMANIA   (Applications nos. 40756/06, 41508/07 and 50806/07)             JUDGMENT   This judgment was revised in accordance with Rule 80 of the Rules of Court in a judgment of 15 October 2024.       STRASBOURG   26 November 2013     FINAL   26/02/2014   This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Vlad and others v. Romania, The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Josep Casadevall, President,   Alvina Gyulumyan,   Corneliu Bîrsan,   Ján Šikuta,   Luis López Guerra,   Nona Tsotsoria,   Kristina Pardalos, judges, and Santiago Quesada, Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 5 November 2013, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in three applications (nos. 40756/06, 41508/07 and 50806/07) against Romania lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by three Romanian nationals, Mr Mihai Vlad, Mr Flaviu Plaţa and Mrs Vasilica Bratu (“the applicants”), on   5   October   2006, 14 September 2007 and 9 November 2007, respectively. 2.     Mr Vlad (application no. 40756/06) was represented before the Court by Mr Bogdan Dorin Duda, a lawyer practising in Bucharest. The Romanian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms Irina Cambrea, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 3.     On 21 October 2011, 16 December 2011 and 16 December   2010 respectively, the applications were communicated to the Government with regard to the complaints concerning the length of the proceedings and the alleged lack of remedies in that respect. 4.     On 4 July 2012 the Court (Third section) decided to join the applications and to grant them priority under Rule 41 of the Rules of the Court. It also informed the Government of the Court’s intention to apply Article 46 § 1 of the Convention. For this purpose, the parties were invited to comment on the possible systemic nature of the length of civil and criminal proceedings before the Romanian courts and the absence of remedies in that regard. THE FACTS I.     THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE A.     Application no. 40756/06, lodged by Mr Mihai Vlad 5.     The applicant was born in 1945 and lives in Bucharest. 6.     On 30 January 1994 he was taken into police custody on suspicion of first-degree murder. On the next day, the Public Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Timiş County Court opened a criminal investigation and authorised his continued detention. 7.     On 18 November 1994 the applicant was brought to trial on indictment on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated theft. 8.     From February to December 1995 monthly hearings before the Timiş County Court were scheduled to hear evidence from prosecution witnesses. 9.     On 13 December 1995 the court remitted the case to the prosecution authorities for further investigation. On 22 April 1996 this decision was reversed on appeal by the Timişoara Court of Appeal, which found that the criminal investigation was complete and that the trial should continue before the first-instance court. 10.     When the proceedings were resumed, the county court listed hearings for the examination of the defence witnesses and adjourned the case on five occasions before delivering its judgment. 11.     On 22 November 1996 the applicant was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to an eighteen-year prison sentence. 12.     On 14 April 1997 the Timişoara Court of Appeal allowed appeals by both parties, quashed the first-instance judgment and remitted the case to the lower court for re-examination. 13.     On 15 September 1997 the applicant was convicted again and given an eighteen-year prison sentence. His appeal was dismissed on   12   March   1998 by the Court of Appeal of Timişoara. He lodged a further appeal, which was allowed by the High Court of Cassation and Justice (“ICCJ”) on 28 October 1998. The case was thus sent back to the prosecution authorities on the ground that the criminal investigation had been incomplete. 14.     On 8 July 1999 the Public Prosecutor’s Office lodged an indictment with the Timiş County Court on charges of first-degree murder. The theft charges were dropped. 15.     The county court summoned witnesses and, at the prosecution’s request, ordered that a forensic medical report be submitted in the space of six months. The applicant’s requests for a counter forensic medical report, as well as for the removal of the panel of judges on allegations of partiality, were rejected. 16.     On 5 May 2000 the applicant was convicted of first-degree murder and given a fifteen-year prison sentence. His appeal on points of law was allowed by the ICCJ on 9 November 2000, and the case was sent back to the prosecuting authorities for further investigation. 17.     On 15 October 2001 a new bill of indictment was issued against the applicant on the same charges of first-degree murder. Shortly after the case was registered with the Timiş County Court, the applicant filed a request with the ICCJ for referral to a different court on allegations of lack of impartiality. Hearings were subsequently adjourned for failure to serve the bill of indictment on the applicant. 18 .     On 12 April 2002 the applicant’s request for the case to be referred to another court was allowed by the ICCJ and the case was referred to the Dolj County Court. 19.     The case remained with that court for more than a year. It was necessary to schedule several hearings on account of absences and improper summoning of witnesses, and pending the submission of a forensic report. 20.     On 9 September 2003 the Dolj County Court convicted the applicant and sentenced him to a fifteen-year prison sentence. He filed a notice of appeal. 21.     Of the hearings scheduled before the higher court, five were successively adjourned for failure to properly summon the applicant. 22.     On 16 May 2005 the Court of Appeal of Craiova rejected the applicant’s request for leave to appeal as time-barred. 23.     The ICCJ allowed an appeal on points of law by the applicant, quashed the decision of the Court of Appeal and ordered a retrial on appeal. 24.     On 2 November 2005 the Court of Appeal of Craiova dismissed the appeal. 25.     On 6 April 2006 the ICCJ dismissed an appeal on points of law by the applicant and upheld the lower court’s decision. B.     Application no. 41508/07, lodged by Mr Flaviu Plaţa 26.     The applicant was born in 1969 and lives in Bucharest. 27 .     On 6 March 1997 the applicant was informed that a civil lawsuit had been filed against him with the Bucharest District Court no. 2. The legal dispute concerned the division of an estate co-inherited by the applicant and his aunt, who brought the claim to the court. 28 .     The trial at first instance involved several hearings to enable the plaintiffs to specify their claims and pay stamp duty. 29.     In March 1998 the applicant lodged a request for the case to be referred to a different court. On 19 May 1998 the ICCJ allowed the request and sent the case to be heard before the Bucharest District Court no. 6. 30.     Shortly after the case was registered with that court, several hearings were adjourned on account of the authorities’ failure to submit documents requested by the court. 31 .     On 21 January 1999, owing to the repeated adjournments of the hearings on account of the relevant authorities’ failure to submit court-ordered documents, the applicant lodged a request for the proceedings to be stayed. The court allowed this request by a ruling. 32 .     On 22 November 1999 the proceedings were resumed at the applicant’s request. On the same date he asked the court to serve him the summons at an address in China, where he was studying. The district court considered his request to be abusive and continued to serve the summons at his former residence in Bucharest. 33 .     On 6 September 2001, however, the district court considered that the applicant had not misused his procedural rights by seeking to be given legal notice of the proceedings in China. It ruled that the applicant had been precluded from giving evidence and annulled as unlawful all procedural acts performed between 16 December 1999 and 22 February 2001. It ordered that they be carried out again in the applicant’s presence. 34.     On 13 December 2001, the district court allowed the action in part and ruled on the shares of property to be individually attributed to the parties. 35.     The applicant filed a notice of appeal. 36 .     On appeal, the applicant submitted a request for the review of the constitutionality of Article 114 1 (4) of the Code of Civil Procedure, whereby a defendant living abroad has to set up residence in Romania to be given legal notice of process. 37 .     By an interlocutory judgment of 17 September 2002 the court stayed the proceedings and submitted the case to the Constitutional Court for review. On 11 February 2003 the Constitutional Court ruled that the above ‑ mentioned provisions did not contravene the Constitution. 38 .     In March 2003 the trial was resumed. The ensuing hearings were adjourned several times prior to October 2003 owing to an expert witness’s failure to submit a court-ordered report. 39.     On 18 November 2003 the Bucharest County Court dismissed the appeal as unfounded. The applicant appealed on points of law. 40 .     On 27 January 2005 the Court of Appeal of Bucharest allowed the appeal on points of law, ruling that the expert report relied on by the court had been conducted in the applicant’s absence, thus rendering the judgment void. The case was therefore sent back for retrial on appeal. 41.     The case was registered before the Bucharest County Court and was adjourned on several occasions owing either to requests filed by the plaintiffs to have the panel of judges removed or pending the receipt of documents from other courts. 42 .     On 28 October 2005 the Bucharest County Court allowed the appeal, quashed the first-instance court’s decision of 13 December 2001 for failure on the part of the lower court to examine a claim filed by the applicant, and sent the case back for a fresh examination on the merits. 43 .     On 21 June 2006 the Bucharest District Court no. 6 allowed the action in part, ruling on the individual shares of property to be allotted to the parties. The decision was upheld on appeal on 15 November 2006 and on appeal on points of law on 29 March 2007. 44 .     On an unspecified date, enforcement proceedings in respect of the judgment regarding the division of the property were initiated. On 7   September   2011 the bailiff declared that he was unable to enforce the judgment. A complaint concerning the execution of the judgment is currently pending at first instance before the Bucharest District Court no. 6. C.     Application no. 50806/07, lodged by Mrs Vasilica Bratu 45.     The applicant was born in 1964 and lives in Bucharest. 46.     On 4 May 1998 she was summoned to the police headquarters in Bucharest to be questioned on suspicion of misconduct in public office. She was brought to trial by a bill of indictment lodged with the Bucharest District Court no. 1 on 30 June 1998. 47 .     While examining the evidence, the district court decided to disregard the forensic accounting report submitted by the prosecution on the ground that not all the defendants had been present when the accounts had been examined. 48 .     On 26 May 1999 the district court commissioned a new forensic accounting report. The hearing was adjourned twice pending the submission of the report, which was eventually submitted in November 1999. 49.     On 24 May 2000 the district court dismissed the State’s civil claim as time-barred. 50.     On 20 July 2000 the applicant was convicted of misconduct in public office and sentenced to a one-year prison sentence with a stay of execution. 51.     A notice of appeal was filed with the Bucharest County Court with respect to both the criminal and the civil parts of the judgment. 52.     On 29 June 2001 the county court upheld the first-instance court decision under its criminal head, and ordered the retrial of the case under the civil head. 53.     On 13 December 2001 the Court of Appeal rejected the applicant’s appeal on points of law in respect of the criminal conviction. 54 .     On 31 May 2002 Bucharest District Court no. 1. allowed the civil action in part. 55 .     Following the lodging of an appeal in June 2002, the Bucharest County Court scheduled twenty-two hearings pending the submission of documents and information by the Ministry of Public Finance and the Public Prosecutor’s Office. 56.     On 8 November 2004 the Bucharest County Court allowed the appeal and altered the lower court’s judgment by increasing the amounts of compensation awarded. 57.     On 28 January 2005 the Court of Appeal of Bucharest allowed an appeal on points of law and set aside the decision on appeal of 29 June 2001 for insufficient evidence with respect to the amount of damages awarded. The case was referred for a new trial on appeal. 58 .     The hearings listed for the retrial were adjourned on seventeen occasions for improper service of process and pending the receipt of documents and information from the public authorities. 59 .     On 9 September 2005 the court imposed a fine on the chief prosecutor for failure to submit court-ordered documents. The latter were eventually submitted to the court nineteen months later. 60 .     On 23 March 2007 the Bucharest County Court dismissed the appeal as unfounded. It thus upheld the first-instance decision of 31 May 2002. An appeal on points of law was lodged against the decision in respect of both its criminal and civil aspects. 61 .     By a final decision of 11 May 2007 the Court of Appeal of Bucharest dismissed the appeal on points of law. II.     RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW AND PRACTICE A.     Relevant domestic law 1.     The Constitution 62 .     The relevant provisions of the Constitution of 1991 read as follows: Article 11 § 2 “Treaties ratified by Parliament, according to the law, are part of national law.” Article 20 “(1)     Constitutional provisions concerning citizens’ rights and liberties shall be interpreted and enforced in conformity with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with the covenants and other treaties Romania is party to. (2)     Where there are inconsistencies between the covenants and treaties on fundamental human rights Romania is a party to and its internal laws, the international regulations shall take precedence.” Article 21 “(1)     Everyone is entitled to bring cases before the courts for the defence of his legitimate rights, liberties and interests. (2)     The exercise of this right may not be restricted by any law.” Article 133 § 2 “The Superior Council of the Magistracy shall perform the role of a disciplinary council for judges, in which case proceedings shall be presided over by the President of the Supreme Court of Justice.” 63 .     The relevant provisions of the Constitution, as revised on   31   October   2003, read as follows: Article 20 § 2 “Where there are inconsistencies between the covenants and treaties on fundamental human rights Romania is a party to and the national laws, the international regulations shall take precedence, unless the Constitution or national laws comprise more favourable provisions.” Article 21 § 3 “All parties shall be entitled to a fair trial and to have their cases decided on within a reasonable time.” Article 134 “(2)     The Superior Council of Magistracy shall perform the role of a court of law, by means of its sections, as regards the disciplinary liability of judges and public prosecutors, based on the procedures set up by its organic law. (...) (3)     Decisions by the Superior Council of Magistracy as regards disciplinary actions may be contested before the High Court of Cassation and Justice.” 2.     The Civil Code in force until 1 October 2011 64.     The relevant provisions on civil liability for tort read as follows: Article 998 “Any act committed by a person that causes damage to another shall render the person through whose fault the damage was caused liable to make reparation for it.” Article 999 “Everyone shall be liable for damage he has caused not only through his own actions but also through his failure to act or his negligence.” 3.     The new Civil Code in force as from 1 October 2011 65.     The principle of liability for tort established by the Civil Code in force until 1 October 2011 was maintained in Article 1349 of the new Civil Code: Article 1349 “(1)     Everyone shall respect the code of conduct which the law or local custom imposes and shall not breach, by action or inaction, the rights or legitimate interests of others. (2)     Anyone who knowingly breaches this duty shall be liable for all damage and shall make amends for it in full. (3)     In the cases provided for by the law, a person may also be liable for damage caused by the actions of another [...]” 4.     Law no. 303 of 28 June 2004 on the statute of judges and prosecutors (in force as of 16 September 2005) 66 .     Section 97(1) of Law no. 303/2004 provides that every person can bring to the attention of the Superior Council of Magistracy cases concerning the improper conduct, wrongful behaviour, failure to meet professional duties or any other disciplinary misconduct on the part of judges and prosecutors. Section 99(e) of the law further provides that culpable and constant failure to comply with the “reasonable time” requirement when dealing with cases amounts to disciplinary misconduct. The penalties that can be imposed on a judge or prosecutor found guilty of misconduct are listed in section 100 as follows: reprimand, withholding of increment, discharge and transfer to a different court, and removal of the magistrate from office. 5.     Law no. 304 of 28 June 2004 on the organisation of the judicial system (in force as of 24 September 2004) 67 .     Section 10 of Law no. 304/2004 provides that everyone is entitled to a fair trial and an examination of their case within a reasonable time, by an impartial and independent court, set up in accordance with the law. 6.     Law no. 202 of 25 October 2010 for accelerating judicial proceedings 68 .     Law no. 202/2010 entered into force on 29 October 2010. It introduced provisions amending, inter alia , the 1993 Code of Civil Procedure and the 1997 Code of Criminal Procedure, pending the entry into force and implementation of the new codes of civil and criminal procedure (see paragraphs 73-75 below). 69 .     The main changes made to the civil procedure can be summarised as follows: -     the courts were obliged to schedule hearings close together; hearings could be scheduled further apart only if the court deemed it necessary; -     a limit was placed on the number of requests that could be lodged to transfer jurisdiction to a different court; -     new conditions and deadlines for raising an objection as to a court’s competence to hear certain cases were introduced; -     the parties present at trial in person or through a representative could serve court documents and procedural deeds directly on each other; -     a party summoned to a hearing either personally or through their lawyer would be deemed to have been informed of all subsequent hearings; -     direct access to the databases of public institutions was to be granted to courts in order to obtain relevant information for the service of process; -     the courts could use alternative methods of service of process, such as telephone, telegraph, fax or email, to summon parties and send related documents to them; -     stricter requirements were applied to statements of claims and the procedure for friendly settlement; -     a request for the rescheduling of the date of a hearing (“ cerere de preschimbare a termenului ”) in order to reduce the time between hearings was made possible; -     amendments were made to the procedure for appointing experts; -     limitations were placed on the number of jurisdictions competent to examine a case; -     the remittal of a case to a lower court for re-examination on the merits could now be ordered only once in the entire course of the proceedings. 70.     The main changes to the criminal procedure can be summarised as follows: -     a procedure allowing for the civil action in the criminal trial to be resolved by way of a transaction between the parties was introduced; -     changes similar to those outlined above relating to civil cases (see paragraph 69) were made in respect of requests to reschedule hearings, the procedure for summoning the parties, the serving of court documents and procedural deeds, methods for the service of process and the courts’ access to databases managed by public administrations; -     the designation of a common representative for multiple victims or civil parties who did not have diverging interests was made possible, with the effect that procedural deeds served on the representative would be deemed to have been served on all of the concerned parties; -     the amount of the judicial fine which could be imposed on parties, witnesses and lawyers for unjustified absence from court hearings was increased; -     plea bargaining before the first-instance court, allowing a defendant to admit to the charges brought against him and to request that the court examine the case exclusively on the basis of evidence gathered during the investigation phase, was made possible. 71.     According to a paper submitted by the Government, which contains a study by national judges, the impact of Law no. 202/2010 on the workload and the length of the proceedings before the domestic courts had not been significant. 72.     The Government also produced statistics compiled, inter alia , by the Superior Council of Magistracy and the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice for the years 2010 and 2011, according to which there had been a drop in the total time needed to process a case, so that more than 80% of new cases were now being decided at first instance in less than six months. These statistics also showed that in 2011 there had been an increase in the number of both new cases and completed cases. 7.     The new Code of Civil Procedure, in force as of 15   February 2013 73 .     According to Section 3 of Law no. 76/2012, the provisions of the new Code of Civil Procedure apply only to proceedings instituted after its entry into force on 15 February 2013. 74.     Articles 522 to 526 of the new Code of Civil Procedure introduce a remedy aimed at expediting excessively lengthy proceedings, namely, a “complaint about the protraction of proceedings” ( contestaţie pentru tergiversarea procedurii ): Article 522 – Parties and causes of action “(1)     Every party to a civil trial, as well as the public prosecutor taking part in the proceedings, is entitled to bring a complaint whereby they allege a violation of the right to a trial within a reasonable and foreseeable time and consequently request that adequate measures be taken to efficiently deal with the alleged violation. (2)     Such a complaint can only be filed in one of the following instances: 1.     where a statutory deadline for the finalisation of a case, the delivery of a judgment or the drafting of a statement of reasons is reached without any of the requisite action having been taken; 2.     where a party to the proceedings fails to comply with a court order urging it to carry out a specific procedural act by a deadline and the court does not take statutory measures against that party; 3.     where an authority or other third party to the proceedings fails to observe a time-limit set by the court to submit to it a document, data or any other information deemed essential to the case, and the court does not take statutory measures against the defaulting authority or third party; 4.     where the court defaults in its duty to dispose of the case within a reasonable and foreseeable time by not taking the required statutory measures or by not carrying out a procedural act, as imposed by law, even though it could have done so in the time that had lapsed from its last procedural act. Article 523 – Withdrawal of the complaint The complaint may be withdrawn at any time up until a decision has been rendered. Once withdrawn, the complaint cannot be repeated. Article 524 – Formal requirements. Examination and determination of the complaint (1)     The complaint shall be filed in writing with the court dealing with the case in respect of which allegations of undue delays have been raised. The complaint can also be made orally, at a hearing, in which case note has to be taken of it, together with its legal grounds, in the interlocutory judgment. (2)     The filing of such a complaint shall not halt the course of the legal process. (3)     The complaint shall be examined without delay, and at the latest within five days from its submission, by the panel of judges sitting in the main proceedings. No party shall be summoned. (4)     Should the panel determine that the complaint is well-founded, it shall deliver an interlocutory judgment ordering adequate measures to remove the situation that had led to the protraction of the proceedings to be taken forthwith. The interlocutory judgment shall not be subject to appeal. The concerned party shall be immediately notified. (5)     Should the panel find that the complaint is unfounded, it shall reject it by an interlocutory judgment. Such judgment may be appealed against by the interested party, within three days from the date on which service of process has been effected. The appeal ( plîngere ) shall be filed through the court that rejected the complaint, which shall submit it immediately to the higher court together with a certified copy of the case file. If the case is being heard before the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the appeal shall be examined by a different panel within the same court. The filing of the appeal shall not halt the legal process. (6)     The statement of reasons for the interlocutory judgments mentioned in the two previous subparagraphs shall be prepared within five days from the date on which the judgment is rendered. Article 525 – Examination and determination of an appeal (1)     An appeal against the decision to reject a complaint shall be examined and determined within ten days from the receipt of the case file by a panel composed of three judges. No party shall be summoned. The decision, the statement of reasons for which is to be prepared within five days from its delivery, shall be final. (2)     If the court allows the appeal, it shall order the court dealing with the case to take the procedural step or ... measure in question, clearly indicating [what action is to be taken] and, if need be, setting a deadline to that effect. (3)     Irrespective of its decision, the court examining the appeal cannot, by its own ruling, give guidance or express its opinion on the facts or points of law that may anticipate the judgment on the merits or otherwise infringe upon the freedom of the judge to decide, according to the law, on the ruling to be adopted. Article 526 – Sanction for a complaint filed in bad faith (1)     The filing of a complaint or an appeal in bad faith shall be sanctioned by a fine of between ROL 500 and 2,000. An additional payment of compensation for damages caused by the abusive filing of a complaint or appeal may also be ordered at the request of the interested party. (2)     Bad faith shall be discerned from the manifestly ill-founded nature of the complaint or appeal, as well as from any other circumstances that make it reasonable to assume that the right was exercised abusively or served a different purpose than that allowed for by the law.” 8.     The new Code of Criminal Procedure 75 .     Law no. 255/2013 on the implementation of Law no.   135/2010 introducing the new Code of Criminal Procedure sets the date of the entry into force of the new Code of Criminal Procedure as 1   February   2014. The new Code of Criminal Procedure does not contain any provision similar to the complaint about the protraction of the proceedings provided for by Articles 522 to 526 of the new Code of Civil Procedure. The Government claimed, however, referring to the opinions submitted by the Ministry of Justice and by domestic courts in that respect, that Articles 522 to 526 of the new Code of Civil Procedure also applied to criminal proceedings. In particular, they pointed out that Article 2 § 2 of the Code stipulates that its provisions represent common law for civil matters and for “other matters”, provided that they do not contravene the laws governing such matters. In support of their allegations, the Government relied on three court decisions, two delivered in 2003 and one in 2012, from which it appears that courts had applied civil procedural provisions to proceedings before criminal courts (the possibility to reduce the lawyer’s fee and the imposition of a fine on a party which had exercised its rights abusively, respectively). B.     Relevant domestic case-law and administrative practice 76 .     The Government submitted that in general, upon registration of a claim with a court, the first hearing is scheduled at random using special computer software. However, the domestic courts allow requests to have the hearings rescheduled in cases where the computer-generated dates create excessive and unjustified delays in the proceedings. In doing so, the courts take into account the nature of the litigation and the age and the state of health of the applicant. The delays may thus be shortened by anything from one week to five months. 77 .     The Government submitted examples of case-law in an attempt to show that at present the system of legal remedies in Romania in length of proceedings cases, comprising the direct applicability of the Convention and the liability for tort under former Articles 998 and 999 of the Civil Code, makes it possible not only to expedite proceedings but also to make good any damage suffered. 78 .     In a judgment of 12 October 2010 concerning civil matters the County Court of Bacău quashed for the third time the first-instance court’s decision. Having regard to the delays already accrued in the proceedings, and to the requirements of Article 6 of the Convention, it decided not to remit the case to the lower court again, and therefore held the case for re-examination on the merits. 79 .     In another case concerning enforcement proceedings the County Court of Bacău quashed the lower court’s decision and, having regard to the fact that the proceedings had lasted almost two years already, held the case for re-examination on the merits (judgment of 11 July 2011). 80 .     In a final decision of 16 November 2007 the Court of Appeal of Jassy (Iaşi) ruled on an appeal on points of law that a criminal investigation which had lasted four years had been opened against the wrong individual due to mistaken identity, and that the procedure had thus breached the “reasonable time” requirement laid down in the Convention. The court found that the delays which had occurred prior to the administration’s acknowledgment of its error represented a “wrongful act” within the meaning of former Articles 998 and 999 of the Civil Code as a result of which non-pecuniary damage had been caused. 81.     In three judgments delivered between March 2008 and May   2010, various courts in Bucharest examined, under Article 13 of the Convention, complaints of unjustified delays in criminal investigations and dismissed them as ill-founded. 82 .     In a final decision of 20 January 2010 the Bucharest County Court granted a claim lodged in 1998 and awarded the claimant 50,000 Romanian lei (RON) (around EUR 11,000) in compensation for non-pecuniary damage suffered due to the length of ongoing criminal investigations commenced in 1990 into the death of his son. The court found that the criminal investigations had been excessively long and noted that they had not been concluded by the investigating authorities. Such a situation had been due to “negligence” on the part of the investigating authorities within the meaning of former Articles 998 and 999 of the Civil Code, triggering the State’s liability. 83.     In a final decision of 6 February 2009 the County Court of Jassy (Iaşi) allowed an action in tort filed against the State by an individual seeking compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage incurred due to the total lack of action by the police in a criminal investigation. The court established that the lack of action on the part of the police officers represented a “wrongful act” within the meaning of former Articles 998 and 999 of the Civil Code, triggering the State’s liability. It therefore awarded the claimant EUR 1,500 in compensation for non-pecuniary damage. 84.     In a final decision of 28 October 2009 the Court of Appeal of Oradea, ruling on an appeal on points of law, awarded RON   1,000 (approximately EUR 220) in compensation for non-pecuniary damage to individuals who had lodged a claim for tort against a registered expert and the Ministry of Justice. The individuals complained that civil proceedings they had initiated against third parties in 2006 were still pending before the competent court because the registered expert who had been commissioned to submit a report had done so with an excessive delay. The Court of Appeal found that the expert’s dilatory conduct had resulted in twenty-three postponements of the proceedings to which the claimants were parties. It further stated that although the State was not as such liable for the delays in the proceedings, it was liable for tort under former Articles   998 and 999 of the Civil Code, since it had not discharged its statutory obligations to organise the judicial system in such a way as to ensure a its proper functioning. In particular, it had not taken any initiative with a view to increasing the number of registered experts, for example, through opening up access to that profession. 85 .     In a final decision of 25 March 2010 the Court of Appeal of Constanţa, ruling on an appeal on points of law, allowed a claim in tort filed in 2006 against the State by an individual in respect of delays in criminal proceedings which had lasted some ten years, and which had ended with his acquittal due to the fact that the acts committed did not represent an offence under the law. The Court of Appeal found that the length of the proceedings was due in part to procedural errors and mistakes committed by the lower courts. Relying on Articles 6 and 13 of the Convention, and on the notion of the State’s responsibility as a public authority to ensure the proper organisation of the judicial system, it awarded the claimant EUR   5,000 in compensation for non-pecuniary damage and EUR   1,500 for pecuniary damage. 86.     In a decision of 19 March 2010 the Bucharest District Court no.   4 ruled that, although it was entitled to apply Article 6 of the Convention and examine whether the length of proceedings was reasonable, the only legal ground for granting damages in case of a breach of the right guaranteed by that Article were, in the absence of a specific domestic remedy, the relevant articles of the Civil Code on the liability for tort. 87 .     The Government submitted further decisions delivered between November 2008 and June 2013, in which various courts in had allowed claims in tort against the State and awarded compensation for non-pecuniary damage ensuing from violations of the “reasonable time” requirement laid down in Article 6 of the Convention. In each case the courts had examined and ascertained whether the elements of tort stipulated in former Articles 998 and 999 of the Civil Code were present in order to engage the liability of the State. C.     Council of Europe (and other relevant) materials 1.     Committee of Ministers 88 .     On 24 February 2010, during the 1077th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies, the Committee of Ministers adopted a Recommendation to member states on effective remedies for excessive length of proceedings (CM/Rec(2010)3), which reads as follows: “The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 15. b of the Statute of the Council of Europe, Recalling that the Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe member states, meeting at the Third Summit in Warsaw on 16 and 17 May 2005, expressed their determination to ensure that effective domestic remedies exist for anyone with an arguable complaint of a violation of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ETS No. 5 – hereafter referred to as “the Convention”); Recalling Recommendation Rec(2004)6 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the improvement of domestic remedies and intending to build upon this by giving practical guidance to member states in the specific context of excessive length of proceedings; Recalling also the Declaration of the Committee of Ministers on sustained action to ensure the effectiveness of the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights at national and European levels (adopted on 19 May 2006 at its 116th Session); Welcoming the work of other Council of Europe bodies, notably the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) and the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice; Emphasising the High Contracting Parties’ obligations under the Convention to secure to everyone within their jurisdiction the rights and freedoms protected thereby, including the right to trial within a reasonable time contained in Article 6.1 and that to an effective remedy contained in Article 13; Recalling that the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Court”), notably its pilot judgments, provides important guidance and instruction to member states in this respect; Reiterating that excessive delays in the administration of justice constitute a grave danger, in particular for respect for the rule of law and access to justice; Concerned that excessive length of proceedings, often caused by systemic problems, is by far the most common issue raised in applications to the Court and that it thereby represents an immediate threat to the effectiveness of the Court and hence the human rights protection system based upon the Convention; Convinced that the introduction of measures to address the excessive length of proceedings will contribute, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, to enhancing the protection of human rights in member states and to preserving the effectiveness of the Convention system, including by helping to reduce the number of applications to the Court, Recommends that the governments of the member states: 1.     take all necessary steps to ensure that all stages of domestic proceedings, irrespective of their domestic characterisation, in which there may be determination of civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge, are determined within a reasonable time; 2.     to this end, ensure that mechanisms exist to identify proceedings that risk becoming excessively lengthy as well as the underlying causes, with a view also to preventing future violations of Article 6; 3.     recognise that when an underlying systemic problem is causing excessive length of proceedings, measures are required to address this problem, as well as its effects in individual cases; 4.     ensure that there are means to expedite proceedings that risk becoming excessively lengthy in order to prevent them from becoming so; 5.     take all necessary steps to ensure that effective remedies before national authorities exist for all arguable claims of violation of the right to trial within a reasonable time; 6.     ascertain that such remedies exist in respect of all stages of proceedings in which there may be determination of civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge; 7.     to this end, where proceedings have become excessively lengthy, ensure that the violation is acknowledged either expressly or in substance and that: a.     the proceedings are expedited, where possible; or b. &