CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;GRANDCHAMBER;ENG — 24 septembre 2024

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SAN MARINO   (Applications nos. 6319/21 and 2 others – see appended list)     JUDGMENT   Art 6 (civil) • Civil rights and obligations • Ratione materiae • Complaint by victims of alleged offences participating in criminal proceedings that the investigating judge’s inaction led to the time-barring of those offences and thus to the non ‑ adjudication of their civil claims • Clarification of relevant criteria for the applicability of Art   6 where a right to bring civil claims in the ambit of criminal proceedings is provided for • Requirement for an applicant to have a substantive civil right recognised under domestic law • Victims of a crime must have the possibility to pursue that civil right in the ambit of criminal proceedings and at the relevant stage thereof • Victims must clearly demonstrate that they attached importance to the civil right at issue • Civil right to be invoked and/or pursued through the appropriate channel, in accordance with the tenets of the domestic legal framework • Art   6 applied only if the civil right pursued in the criminal proceedings was not actively pursued in parallel before another court • Criminal proceedings must be decisive for the civil right in issue • Requirements met only with regard to third applicant • Failure of remaining applicants to lodge a formal request to obtain “civil party” status in accordance with domestic law Art 6 (civil) • Access to court • Clarification of approach to be taken in access to court complaints in relation to civil claims brought in the context of criminal proceedings • Discontinuance of criminal proceedings resulting in the non ‑ determination of a civil claim does not result in a violation of the right of access to a court if an applicant has an alternative avenue of redress capable of determining that claim • Exceptionally, if a serious dysfunction of the domestic system was the sole or decisive reason of the discontinuance and an applicant pursued the civil claim diligently, in the case-circumstances it might not be reasonable to expect that applicant to pursue any other available civil remedy • Decision in third applicant’s case to discontinue proceedings lawful and not arbitrary or manifestly unreasonable • Unjustified inaction by the investigative authorities as a result of a serious dysfunction afflicting the domestic investigative judicial authority at the material time • Failure to consider third applicant’s civil claims in avenue he chose to pursue not due to circumstances solely or decisively attributable to that dysfunction • Third applicant’s failure to pursue his interests diligently • Possibility to lodge separate civil proceedings following the alleged offence or after the discontinuance of the criminal proceedings • Essence of the right to access to a court not impaired   Prepared by the Registry. Does not bind the Court.   STRASBOURG 24 September 2024   This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.         TABLE OF CONTENTS PROCEDURE THE FACTS THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE A.   Applications nos.   6319/21 and 6321/21 B.   Application no.   9227/21 RELEVANT LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND PRACTICE I.   DOMESTIC LAW AND PRACTICE A.   The Criminal Code B.   The Code of Criminal Procedure C.   Law no.   93/2008 D.   Law no. 42/2014 E.   Law no. 102/2015 F.   Constitutional Court judgment no. 12/2019 II.   INTERNATIONAL MATERIAL A.   Council of Europe B.   European Union III.   COMPARATIVE LAW MATERIAL THE LAW ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 6 § 1 OF THE CONVENTION A.   The Chamber judgment B.   The Government’s preliminary objections before the Grand Chamber C.   Applicability of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention under its civil limb in the context of criminal proceedings 1.   The parties’ submissions (a)   The respondent Government (b)   The applicants (c)   The third-party Government 2.   The Court’s assessment (a)   General Principles (b)   A recapitulation of the Court’s findings on applicability of Article 6 in its civil limb in the context of criminal proceedings (c)   Relevant considerations (d)   The approach to be taken (e)   Application to the present case (i)   Applications nos.   6319/21 and 6321/21 (ii)   Application no.   9227/21 D.   Merits 1.   The parties’ submissions (a)   The third applicant (b)   The Respondent Government (c)   The third-party Government 2.   The Court’s assessment (a)   General principles (b)   The two lines of case-law developed regarding access to a court in relation to civil claims brought in the ambit of criminal proceedings (c)   Relevant considerations (d)   The approach to be taken (e)   Application of the principles to the present case OPERATIVE PROVISIONS CONCURRING OPINION OF JUDGE SCHEMBRI ORLAND JOINT PARTLY DISSENTING OPINION OF JUDGES BOŠNJAK, PASTOR VILANOVA, KŪRIS, JELIĆ, FELICI, GUERRA   MARTINS AND DERENČINOVIĆ APPENDIX     In the case of Fabbri and Others v. San Marino, The European Court of Human Rights, sitting as a Grand Chamber composed of:   Síofra O’Leary, President   Marko Bošnjak,   Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer,   Pere Pastor Vilanova,   Arnfinn Bårdsen,   Georges Ravarani,   Krzysztof Wojtyczek   Egidijus Kūris,   Ivana Jelić,   Gilberto Felici,   Darian Pavli,   Erik Wennerström,   Lorraine Schembri Orland,   Peeter Roosma,   Ana Maria Guerra Martins,   Andreas Zünd,   Davor Derenčinović , judges , and Johan Callewaert, Deputy Grand Chamber Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 12 July 2023, 24 January 2024 and 27   June 2024, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that last date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in three applications (nos.   6319/21, 6321/21 and 9227/21) against the Republic of San Marino lodged with the Court under Article   34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by two nationals of San Marino, Mr   Stellino Fabbri and Mr Andrea Forcellini (“the first and third applicants”) and one Italian national Ms   Angelina Marro (“the second applicant”), on the various dates indicated in the appended table. 2.     The applicants were represented by Mr M.F. Fattori and Mr R. Fabbri, lawyers practising in Borgo Maggiore. The San Marinese Government (“the Government”) were initially represented by their former Agent, Mr   L.   Daniele, and later, before the Grand Chamber, by their Agent, Ms.   S.   Bernardi and their Co-Agent Ms. M. Bovi. 3.     The applicants complained that they did not have access to a court, to determine their civil claims, as a result of the inaction of the authorities, which had led to the discontinuance of the criminal proceedings in which they were injured parties. 4.     The applications were allocated to the First Section of the Court, pursuant to Rule 52 § 1 of the Rules of Court, and on 16 April 2021 the Government were given notice of the applications. 5.     By a judgment of 18 October 2022, a Chamber of the Second Section, to which the applications had been re-allocated, composed of Jon Fridrik Kjølbro , President, Carlo Ranzoni , Branko Lubarda , Pauliine Koskelo , Jovan Ilievski , Gilberto Felici , and Diana Sârcu, judges, and Hasan Bakırcı, Section Registrar, joined the applications and declared them, by a majority, admissible. It held, by four votes to three, that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention in respect of the three applicants, on the basis that they had been denied access to a court. The partly dissenting opinion of Judge Koskelo and the joint dissenting opinion of Judges Kjølbro , Ranzoni and Koskelo were appended to the judgment. 6.     On 17 January 2023 the Government requested that the three applications be referred to the Grand Chamber in accordance with Article   43 of the Convention and on 6 March 2023 a panel of the Grand Chamber granted that request. 7.     The composition of the Grand Chamber was determined in accordance with the provisions of Article 26 §§ 4 and 5 of the Convention and Rule   24. 8.     The applicants and the Government each filed written observations (Rule   59 §   1). As the applicant Ms Marro is of Italian nationality, the Italian Government expressed their intention to exercise their right to take part in the written and oral proceedings as a third party (Article 36 § 1 of the Convention and Rule 44 § 1). They subsequently filed written comments on the case. 9.     Following their requests, the President of the Grand Chamber decided, in accordance with Rule 34 §§ 3 and 4 (a), respectively, to grant the applicants and the San Marino Government leave to use the Italian language in the oral proceedings before the Court. 10.     A hearing took place in public in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on 12 July 2023. There appeared before the Court: (a)     for the respondent Government Ms S. Bernardi , Agent,   Counsel , Ms M. Bovi , Co-Agent, Ms B. Reffi , Ms A. Belardini , Ms S. Ugolini ,   Advisers ; (b)     for the applicants Mr R. Fabbri,   Counsel , Ms C. Ioli , Mr S. Bacci ,   Adviser s; (c)     for the Italian Government Mr L. D’Ascia , Agent,   Counsel , Ms C. Buffon ,   Adviser.   The Court heard addresses by Mr R. Fabbri, Ms S. Bernardi and Mr   L.   D’Ascia and also the replies of Mr R. Fabbri and Ms S. Bernardi to questions from the judges. After the hearing, Alena Poláčková was prevented from sitting and was replaced by Egidijus Kūris, substitute judge. At a later stage, Peter Paczolay was prevented from sitting and was replaced by Davor Derenčinović, substitute judge. Georges Ravarani and Egidijus Kūris, whose term of office had expired in the course of the proceedings, continued to deal with the case (Article   23 §   3 of the Convention and Rule   24 § 4). THE FACTS THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE 11.     The applicants were born in 1955, 1973 and 2003 respectively and live in San Marino. Mr Forcellini, who was a minor at the time of lodging the application, was represented by his mother.    Applications nos.   6319/21 and 6321/21 12 .     On 13 and 14 April 2016 Mr Fabbri and Ms Marro (the first and second applicants, respectively) lodged a complaint with the San Marino courts against N. for bodily harm (under Article 155 of the Criminal Code) suffered on 4 April 2016. Allegedly on that date, while on a stationary bus, N. grabbed Ms Marro by the hair and pushed her off the bus, causing her to fall to the ground. N. then dragged Ms Marro through a carpark with one hand while with the other she pulled on the scarf that Ms Marro was wearing round her neck. Mr Fabbri ran to her rescue and while he was trying to release Ms   Marro from N.’s grip the latter threatened him and repeatedly hit him with a spade. A third person eventually intervened and managed to control N. 13.     In their complaint they referred to the names of six witnesses and attached the evidence they had collected including relevant medical reports; they also reserved their right to join, as civil parties, any eventual proceedings against the person complained of or any other individual involved in the offence, and asked to be informed if the proceedings were to be discontinued; they also appointed lawyers to legally represent them, indicating the lawyers’ office as their address for service ( eletto domicilio ). 14.     As a result, a criminal investigation was opened on the following day. 15 .     On 18 April 2016 the second applicant asked the investigating judge to set a date for the taking of the “oath of calumny” (Article 28 of the Code of Criminal Procedure – the “CCP”). Her request was reiterated on 24   May   2017, emphasising the lapse of time since the lodging of the complaint and the risk that the proceedings be discontinued because of the expiry of the time-limit indicated in section 6 of Law no. 93/2008. 16.     The investigating judge (X) assigned to the case did not take any steps. The first applicant also remained inactive following the lodging of his complaint. 17.     On 28 May 2019 the Acting Chief Justice of San Marino invited the parties to make submissions concerning the non ‑ observance of the time-limits for the investigation. 18 .     On 24 July 2019, having considered that the investigation started on 15 April 2016, that the period prescribed for the investigation into the offence at issue was twelve months (suspended for the summer holidays in July and August 2016), that no investigative acts had ensued such as to extend the time-limit, and that the said time-limit thus expired on 15 June 2017, the public prosecutor ( Procuratore del Fisco ) agreed to discontinue the case given the expiry of the procedural time-limit for the investigation. The copies of the investigation files submitted to the Court by both parties do not contain any submissions made by the applicants. 19 .     On 4 December 2019 the investigating judge wrote to the office of the Chief Justice of San Marino noting that, while the time-limit for the investigation pursuant to section 6 of Law no. 93/2008 had expired, it might be useful to grant an extension for reasons of force majeure , namely a substantial increase in criminal complaints being lodged simultaneously, complex ongoing investigations and limited staff, given that the situation had by then improved. No reply to this request was brought to the attention of the Court by any of the parties. 20.     On 16 November 2020 (in accordance with Constitutional Court ruling no. 12/2009, see paragraph 31 below) a newly assigned investigating judge discontinued the case because the charge had become time-barred (within three years – Article 52 et seq. of the Criminal Code, particularly Article   54 on substantive limitation periods in respect of offences). He informed the public prosecutor accordingly, noting that unless the latter had any objection the discontinuance would take effect. He also noted that it appeared from the case file that no investigative measures had been undertaken throughout the entire time. Thus, even assuming that it had not become time-barred, no criminal proceedings could have ensued in the absence of any evidence having been collected (Article 135 of the CCP). 21 .     On 20 November 2020 the public prosecutor agreed to discontinue the case.    Application no.   9227/21 22 .     Mr Forcellini (the third applicant) was twelve years of age in 2015. Following his parents’ claims that a teacher had failed to protect him from bullying during a school trip in the summer of 2015, proceedings were lodged by the teacher against the parents. The latter were found guilty of defamation by a judgment of 6 March 2018. As a result of the indications made by the judge in those proceedings, on 28 March 2018 a criminal investigation was opened ex officio against two minors, V. and D., for “private violence” (the fact of, by means of violence or threats, coercing others to commit, tolerate or omit a certain action) and threats against the applicant, who was a minor at the time (under Article 179 and 181 bis of the Criminal Code, respectively) relating to acts which took place in the period between 2 and 7 July 2015. 23 .     A request to join the proceedings as a civil party ( dichiarazione di costituzione di parte civile ), by the mother on behalf of the third applicant, was submitted on 26 February 2019 and notified to the defendants and the public prosecutor. The investigating judge (X) assigned to the case did not take any steps. 24 .     On 25 November 2020 (in line with Constitutional Court ruling no.   12/2009, see paragraph 31 below) a newly assigned investigating judge discontinued the case in accordance with Article 135 of the CCP as the charge had become time-barred (within three years – Articles 52 et seq. of the Criminal Code, particularly Article 54), no procedural acts having interrupted or suspended the limitation period under Articles 56 and 57 of the CCP. Regardless of these considerations, in the absence of any investigative acts having been undertaken within the stipulated time-limits for the investigation, no evidential material had been collected within the relevant time-limit such as to substantiate an indictment. The judge informed the public prosecutor accordingly, noting that, unless the latter had any objection, the discontinuance would take effect. That decision was to be – and was ultimately – notified, through the intermediary of the designated law firm, to both parents of the applicant, both of whom exercised parental authority. 25.     On 27 November 2020 the public prosecutor expressed his agreement with the discontinuance. RELEVANT LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND PRACTICE         DOMESTIC LAW AND PRACTICE    The Criminal Code 26 .     The relevant Articles of the Criminal Code read as follows: Article 10 “The age of criminal responsibility shall be set at fourteen years. ...” Article 52 “An offence is extinguished if, prior to a finding of guilt, one of the following occurs: (1) the death of the accused; (2) amnesty; (3) expiry of the statutory limitation period; (4) withdrawal of the criminal complaint. An offence is also extinguished in the event of judicial pardon, the fulfilment of the conditions of a suspended sentence, the payment of a fine in lieu of prosecution ( oblazione volontaria ), and the special causes mentioned in book II.” Article 54 [at the relevant time] “An offence becomes time-barred: ... (2) after three years if it is punishable by imprisonment of the second category, ...” Article 57 “Any procedural act carried out by the judicial bodies interrupts the running of the limitation period, which restarts from the last of such acts. Acts carried out by the injured party or the accused, which have been served on ( notificati a mezzo di cursore ) the opposing parties and the public prosecutor, also interrupt the running of that period. In any event, the limitation period cannot be extended by more than one half.”    The Code of Criminal Procedure 27 .     The relevant Articles of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as last amended in 2015, in so far as relevant, read as follows: Article 1 “Every offence gives rise to a criminal action. A civil action may also arise where the offence causes damage, pecuniary or non-pecuniary, to the victim ( soggetto passive ) of the offence and such civil action may be pursued by anyone having an interest in obtaining reparation for the harm caused.” Article 2 “A criminal action is essentially a matter of public law. However, in some cases a complaint by the injured party ( parte offesa ) is necessary to initiate the criminal action. Criminal actions are conducted ex officio by the Commissario della Legge [in his or her role as investigating judge] through an inquisitorial procedure aimed at seeking the plain truth.” Article 3 “A civil action can be instituted separately, by bringing civil proceedings, in which case it is governed by the rules of civil procedure, or contemporaneously with the criminal action. In the latter case the claim in respect of damage is registered in the criminal proceedings, and the decision-making judge will decide on the matter as established in Chapter XXI of this Code.” Article 4 “The party which sustained damage ( danneggiato ) and which chooses to make a claim in respect of damage in criminal proceedings has no right other than to appear during the trial so as to call witnesses and submit evidence which he or she considers could prove the liability of the accused. He or she has no right to have knowledge of the investigative measures taken before the proceedings are made public [i.e. the decision whether or not to commit for trial].” Article 5 “The fact that an offence has become time-barred does not impede the exercise of the civil action, unless the latter is also time-barred.” Article 7 “During criminal proceedings, a civil action is exercised by means of a signed declaration to the effect that one wants to join the proceedings as a civil party ( dichiarazione di costituzione di parte civile ). It must be signed by the person referred to in Article 1 personally as well as his or her legal representative, or by means of a specially instructed representative ( per mezzo di procuratore speciale ). The declaration must be notified to the accused ( prevenuto ) and the public prosecutor, and must be filed, together with the documents related to notification of the other parties, in the court registry, not later than the date on which the proceedings are made public. In summary proceedings the declaration may be submitted even on the date established under Article 175 § 1 for the initial hearing ( trattazione della procedura ) but before the indictment is read out to the accused in court (contestazione del reato al prevenuto) .” Article 8 “Once the Commissario della Legge [investigating or first-instance trial judge] receives the declaration referred to in the preceding article, he or she admits the civil party to join the proceedings by means of a decision. Such decision gives the civil party the right to receive communication of the documents in the file after the proceedings have become public, together with the right to appoint a lawyer who can make written submissions on his or her behalf. The decision also confers on him or her the right under Article 199.” Article 9 “After the injured party has decided to bring the action to which he/she is entitled before the civil court, he/she can no longer join the criminal proceedings as a civil party. Neither a prior reservation to later join the criminal proceedings as a civil party, nor a withdrawal from the civil proceedings to pursue criminal proceedings, can affect this rule.” Article 10 “Wherever the criminal offence is one for which society has the right to proceed without a complaint, the court may conduct criminal proceedings of its own motion ( intraprendere l’inquisizione ), notwithstanding any pending civil proceedings brought by the injured party, who cannot then join the criminal proceedings as a civil party.” Article 11 “In such cases, the criminal proceedings ( l’inquisizione penale ) suspend the civil proceedings, as long as the determination of the latter necessarily depends on the sole establishment of the offence.” Article 12 “Once the criminal proceedings are completed, the civil proceedings can be resumed as long as the accused has been found guilty or has been acquitted because the facts of the case do not amount to an offence.” Article 28 “Anyone who appears before a judge to complain of a criminal offence, which has caused him or her pecuniary or non-pecuniary damage, or who reports in court any criminal offence, shall, before the matter is examined, take an ‘oath of calumny’ [ [1] ] ( giuramento di calumnia ) ... that his/her complaint or report is not intended to slander the person against whom the complaint or report is lodged.” Article 135 “Having heard all relevant witnesses and undertaken all the acts necessary for establishing the truth concerning the case, the investigating judge shall, if he or she considers that the evidence collected does not offer sufficient legal grounds to prosecute the accused, order that the case be discontinued, subject to the public prosecutor’s agreement, and without prejudice to the latter’s rights if new evidence comes to light against the accused ...”. Article 163 “The judgment of conviction also determines the award of compensation, if it had been requested by the injured person ( persona offesa ) or the person who sustained damage as a result of the offence ( persona danneggiata ). If the convicted person is responsible for the damage sustained, the judgment shall make a finding in favour of the injured party or party who sustained damage as a result of the offence and shall determine the amount of the award. Where this is not possible due to a lack of suitable elements for evaluating the whole damage, the judge can make a provisional award, deferring any further assessment to the competent civil judge. The same judgment shall determine the legal and judicial costs to be paid by the accused.” Article 175 “Within thirty days from the lodging of the criminal complaint, the judge ( Commissario della Legge ) must set down an initial hearing for summary proceedings, with the possibility of carrying out summary investigations in the meantime. If urgent objective investigations are necessary, the judge shall act accordingly, and the above-mentioned term shall start to run on the completion of such investigations. The witnesses shall be summoned to appear for questioning on specified dates. The accused shall also be summoned by means of a committal order setting out the facts imputed to him or her ... The committal order is to be notified to the public prosecutor to enable his or her intervention at the trial. Once the committal order is issued, the proceedings are deemed to be made public ...” Article 199 “Where, in a judgment of conviction against the accused, the trial judge omitted to determine the damage caused to the injured person or the person who sustained damage, such person, if duly joined to the proceedings as a civil party as provided by law, may request the same trial judge to complete the judgment by including a determination on the civil claim for compensation.”    Law no.   93/2008 28 .     The sections of Law no. 93/2008, concerning rules of criminal procedure, in so far as relevant and as applicable at the material time (prior to amendments introduced by Law no. 24/2022) read as follows: Section 3 “1.     Except in the cases envisaged in section 5 hereof [investigations under urgency or secrecy regimes], the investigating judge shall conduct all investigating activities, in general, and in particular those relating to the collection and drawing up of evidence, with full regard for the defendant’s right of defence, the prerogatives of the public prosecutor and the rights of private parties protected by criminal law. 2.     The defendant, assisted by counsel, and the public prosecutor are fully entitled to explain their arguments and produce their submissions, besides having the right to examine and take copies of all documents contained in the file, including the registration of the notitia criminis . The investigating judge shall ensure their participation, or that of their representatives, in preliminary investigations. 3.     Except for any documents before the judicial authorities containing data and information covered by bank secrecy under section 36 of Law no. 165 of 17 November 2005, the injured party having been joined as a civil party to the proceedings in accordance with domestic law ( parte lesa ritualmente costituita in giudizio ), shall have the right to receive, upon his/her request, a copy of the documents before the court and to produce submissions, petitions or documents at any stage of the proceedings. He or she may request to take part, if only through his or her defence counsel or expert ( perito ), in any on-site examination ( accessi ), searches and/or other expert assessments ( perizie ), including during preliminary investigations. The investigating judge to whom the request is made must give reasons for the decision. The investigating judge shall refuse to grant the authorisation where the request made by the injured party, having been joined as a civil party to the proceedings in accordance with domestic law, seriously prejudices the defendant’s right of defence, or is incompatible with fundamental confidentiality needs concerning the investigations conducted, with bank secrecy or in the cases envisaged in section 5 hereof. 4.     The injured party shall be obliged to participate in the interviews with the defendant ordered by the investigating judge. 5.     This section is without prejudice to the powers of the ‘judicial police’, which is entrusted with the task of collecting, on its own initiative and with regard for the statutory safeguards, any element which might be useful for the investigations, save any contrary indication by the judge, who must be informed, at the earliest convenience, of the notitia criminis and any other useful element for the ongoing investigations.” Section 4 “1.     Within the mandatory time-limit of thirty days following the date of registration of the notitia criminis or subsequent integration thereof, except in the cases referred to in section 5 hereof, the investigating judge shall personally inform the defendant and the public prosecutor of the factual and legal circumstances concerning the relevant offence, as entered in the register of notitiae criminis referred to in section 2 above, unless the file has been closed ( archiviato ) because it is manifestly unfounded or for other reasons. ...” Section 6 [2] “1.     With regard for the principle of promptness of proceedings under Article 15, third paragraph of the Declaration on the Citizens’ Rights and Fundamental Principles of the San Marino Constitutional Order, the investigating judge shall rapidly conclude preliminary investigations, render the proceedings public and issue the decision fixing the date of the hearing, or discontinue the case in conformity with Article 135 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as soon as possible. 2.     In any event, the investigating judge shall render the proceedings public and then issue the decision fixing the date of the hearing, or discontinue the case, within the mandatory time-limit of one third of the limitation period for the most serious offence. The latter time-limit shall be calculated without taking into account any increase or decrease due to any circumstances, nor the causes for suspension or interruption of the limitation period, ... 3.     If the above-mentioned time-limits are not met, the case shall be considered public irrespective of any such decision by the investigating judge. 4.     The file shall therefore be transmitted by the Registrar to the Chief Justice, who, having verified the status of the proceedings, heard the private parties and received the assent of the public prosecutor, shall dispose of the case and order its discontinuance. However, where he/she deems that the time-limit could not be met due to force majeure or accidental occurrence, the Chief Justice shall have the power to extend the period for a maximum of thirty days. No further or different extensions shall be granted. In particular, in this specific case, the Judicial Council in plenary session shall not be in a position to grant any extension. 5.     Finally, the Chief Justice shall immediately inform the Parliamentary Commission for Justice and the ordinary Judicial Council of the delay established and of all consequent measures adopted. 6.     The delay may give rise to civil liability of the judge when the additional conditions referred to in section 9 of Constitutional Law no. 144 of 30 October 2003 apply.”    Law no. 42/2014 29 .     Section 2 of Law no. 42/2014 as amended by subsequent updates reforming the criminal order, reads as follows: “1.     The investigating judge may issue a criminal conviction decision and charge the costs of the proceedings to the defendant when, after the examination of the documents and the investigations carried out, he/she deems it necessary to apply: (a)     a fine, daily fine, judicial reprimand and disqualification, or one or other of these punishments, even if envisaged as an alternative to imprisonment or arrest; (b)     arrest or first-category imprisonment, alone or in combination with the punishments referred to under point (a), if the requirements for the granting of a suspended sentence are met; (c)     arrest and imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, alone or in combination with the punishments referred to under point (a). ... 5.     If a party brings a civil action, the judge shall not decide on the relevant request. The defendant shall, however, be ordered to pay the costs incurred by the party bringing the civil action, unless there are justified reasons for a total or partial set-off.”     Law no. 102/2015 30 .     Section 11 of Law no. 102/2015 concerning statutory limitation reads as follows: “1.     With the exception of cases in which the special provisions of ‘common law’ ( diritto comune ) provide for shorter time-limits, rights in rem are time-barred after twenty years, and debt claims ( diritti di credito ) after ten years. ... 2.     The period runs from the date on which the fact or deed creating the right took place. 3.     The statute of limitations is interrupted through an out-of-court notice [made to the other party] issued in writing. A new limitation period starts running as a result of the interruption. 4.     The running of the limitation period remains suspended when the party is unable to enforce the right. The duration of the suspension is not taken into account for the purpose of calculating the limitation period.”     Constitutional Court judgment no. 12/2019 31 .     By judgment no.   12/2019 the Constitutional Court of San Marino ( Collegio Garante della Costituzionalita delle Norme ) declared unconstitutional section 6(4) of Law no. 93/2008 (see paragraph 28 above). 32 .     Before this judgment the mere expiry of the time-limit for the completion of the investigation led to the closure of the proceedings by means of a decision not to prosecute. However, the Constitutional Court by means of this judgment introduced a different principle according to which the investigating judge must always assess the existence of the prerequisites for committing the defendant to trial or for discontinuing the criminal proceedings. This is so even after the expiry of the time-limit for the completion of the investigation. Indeed, following that judgment, the expiry of the time-limit referred to in section 6(4) of Law no. 93/2008 only entails the impossibility of using the evidence gathered after its expiry. The assessment as to whether to commit to trial or discontinue the criminal proceedings must, nevertheless, be carried out by a new investigating judge appointed by the Chief Justice.       INTERNATIONAL MATERIAL    Council of Europe 33 .     Recommendation   Rec(2006)8 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on assistance to crime victims (Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 14 June 2006 at the 967th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies), in so far as relevant, reads as follows: “ 7.     Right to effective access to other remedies 7.1.     Victims may need to seek civil remedies to protect their rights following a crime. States should therefore take the necessary steps to ensure that victims have effective access to all civil remedies, and within a reasonable time, through: – the right of access to competent courts; and – legal aid in appropriate cases. 7.2.     States should institute procedures for victims to claim compensation from the offender in the context of criminal proceedings.   Advice and support should also be provided to victims in making these claims and in enforcing any payments awarded.” 34 .     Recommendation CM/Rec(2023)2 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on rights, services and support for victims of crime (Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 15 March 2023 at the 1460th   meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies), replacing Recommendation   Rec(2006)8, referred to above, in so far as relevant, reads as follows: “CHAPTER II - Legal Proceedings A.     Criminal proceedings Article 7 –   Rights of victims to make a formal complaint and to notify authorities 1.     Member States should ensure that victims have the right to make a formal complaint [ [3] ] to the competent authority. This right does not affect any applicable discretionary powers of the authorities to pursue the case and/or dismiss cases at a later stage. ... B.     Criminal and other proceedings Article 13   –   Right to compensation from the offender 1.     Member States should ensure that, in the course of criminal proceedings, victims are entitled to obtain a decision on compensation by the offender, within a reasonable time. When claiming compensation from the offender in the course of criminal proceedings is irreconcilable with the national legal system, member States should provide for alternative ways through other legal proceedings to structurally safeguard the victims’ right to obtain such a decision. 2.     Member States should ensure that advice, support and, where appropriate, legal aid are available to victims in securing and enforcing such a decision. 3.     Member States should encourage offenders to provide compensation to victims. Where appropriate and where national law so allows, the following could be