CEDH · CASELAW;COMMUNICATEDCASES;ENG — 10 avril 2014

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .sFE10DC93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .sA6BC7FA7 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:right } .s9793A85B { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:14.2pt } .s5E1364CA { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:14pt } .s8229ABDD { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:center } .s68C46B95 { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:center } .s2D57E2E { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:underline; text-transform:uppercase } .sD3B63DAD { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:12pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:14pt } .sA8776625 { margin-top:18pt; margin-left:29.2pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-indent:-17.6pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s6B505E72 { margin:0pt; padding-left:0pt } .sA56BACAB { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; list-style-position:inside } .s3537C2D6 { font-weight:normal } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .s72C8F48C { margin-top:12pt; margin-left:36.6pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-indent:-15.05pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .s76CF415B { page-break-before:always; clear:both } .s86439055 { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:12pt } .s3F59B822 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; text-transform:uppercase } .s75A32C27 { border-collapse:collapse } .sAC521AF { border:0.75pt solid #949494; padding:1.02pt 5.03pt; background-color:#dfdfdf } .s598389F9 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center; font-size:12pt } .sEECE831 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; color:#474747 } .sD7287D91 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center; font-size:9pt } .s3695F815 { border:0.75pt solid #949494; padding:1.02pt 5.03pt; vertical-align:top; background-color:#dfdfdf } .sE8934522 { border:0.75pt solid #949494; padding:1.02pt 5.03pt; vertical-align:top } .s2EF62ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:12pt } .s5FFF0A7F { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:9pt } .sB217F55E { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify; font-size:9pt }   Communicated on 10 April 2014   FIRST SECTION Application no. 56094/12 Jovo GRUBIĆ against Croatia and 7 other applications (see list appended) STATEMENT OF FACTS   THE FACTS A.     The circumstances of the cases The facts of the cases, as submitted by the applicants, may be summarised as follows.   Application no 56094/12 lodged on 13   August   2012 by Jovo Grubić, a Croatian national, who was born on 21   February   1952 and lives in Golubić. He is represented by Luka Šušak, a lawyer practicing in Zagreb.     Application no 74338/12 lodged on 19   October   2012 by Mirjana Babić, a Croatian national, who was born on 3   May   1950 and lives in Mokro Polje. She is represented by Hrvoje Alajbeg, a lawyer practicing in Knin.     Application no 75187/12 lodged on 12   November   2012 by Sava Žarković a Croatian national, who was born on 13   February   1945 and lives in Beograd, Milica Amanović, a Serbian national, who was born on 11   July   1948 lives in Beograd, Nikola Grubor, a Serbian national, who was born on 25   October   1952 lives in Beograd. They are all represented by Luka Šušak.     Application no 80960/12 lodged on 11   December   2012 by Janko Zdjelar who was born on 30   January   1968 and lives in Topusko, Branko Zdjelar who was born on 27   January   1964 lives in Topusko, Dragica Zdjelar who was born on 21   April   1958 lives in Topusko, Bosiljka Matkerić who was born on 5   February   1949 lives in Trebovec, Mara Rebić Zdjelar who was born on 17   March   1961 lives in Osmanci, Mile Zdjelar who was born on 11   September   1950 lives in Jagodina , Miloš Zdjelar who was born on 7   January   1952 lives in Kula, Slavko Zdjelar who was born on 28   April   1953 lives in Kula , Čedo Zdjelar who was born on 6   April   1956 lives in Kansas City. They are all Croatian nationals and represented by Luka Šušak.     Application no 3430/13 lodged on 13   December   2012 by Rada Vuković who was born on 12   July   1965 and lives in Knin, Radomir Vidović who was born on 28   March   1974 lives in Batajnica, Zora Radić who was born on 18   April   1970 lives in Slankamenački Vinogradi, Nada Burum Vidović who was born on 4   April   1967 lives in Dubrovnik. They are all Croatian nationals and represented by Luka Šušak.     Application no 32023/13 lodged on 17   April   2013 by Mladen Savić who was born on 28   June   1977 and Predrag Savić who was born on 8   September   1972. They are both Croatian nationals who live in Zemun and are represented by Hrvoje Alajbeg.     Application no 32036/13 lodged on 18   April   2013 by Draginja Treskavica who was born on 17   June   1943, Valentina Treskavica who was born on 3   January   1969 and Nataša Treskavica who was born on 5   July   1975. They are all Croatian nationals who live in London and are represented by Hrvoje Alajbeg.     Application no 38882/13 lodged on 31   May   2013 by Desanka Opačić who was born on 10   March   1940 and lives in Vojnić and Miloš Godić who was born on 14   January   1937 and lives in Frankfurt. They are both Croatian nationals and are represented by Luka Šušak. 1. Background to the case In 1991 the Homeland war escalated in Croatia. A part of Croatia was occupied by separatist Serbian forces. On a part of the occupied territories the so called “Serbian Independent Region Krajina” (hereinafter “the Krajina”) was formed. During the summer of 1995 Croatian authorities announced a military action “Storm” with aim to regain control of “Krajina”. The action started on 5 August. 2. Killing of the applicants’ relatives During the military action “Storm” or immediately after, in August 1995, the applicants’ relatives were killed on the territory of “Krajina”. 3.     Civil proceedings On various dates the applicants all brought their civil actions against the State, seeking damages in connection with the death of their relatives under the Act on liability of the Republic of Croatia for damage caused by members of the Croatian army and police when acting in their official capacity during the homeland war. The national courts dismissed the claims on the grounds that the applicants’ relatives had been killed during the military action “Storm” and that therefore their killing was “war-related” damage. The national courts further found that the applicants had not proved that their relatives had been killed by members of the Croatian army. B.     Relevant domestic law The Act on the liability of the Republic of Croatia for damage caused by members of the Croatian army and police when acting in their official capacity during the Homeland war ( Zakon o odgovornosti Republike Hrvatske za štetu uzrokovanu od pripadnika hrvatskih oružanih i redarstvenih snaga tijekom Domovinskog rata , Official Gazette no. 117/2003 of 23 July 2003) regulates the conditions under which the State is liable to pay compensation for damage caused by members of the army and the police during the Homeland War. Section 2 provides for the State liability under general rules for liability only for damage that “does not have the character of war damage”. COMPLAINTS The applicants complain under the procedural aspect of Articles 2 and 14 of the Convention about the inefficiency of the criminal law mechanisms as regards the killing of their relatives and that the national authorities have not investigated possible ethnic motives for their killing as required under Article 14 of the Convention. They further complain under Article 13 of the Convention in conjunction with Article 2 of the Convention that they had no effective remedy as regards the ineffectiveness of the investigation into the death of their relatives. They also complain under Articles 6 and 13 of the Convention that their right of access to a court was violated because their claims for damages were dismissed on the grounds that they did not prove that their relatives had been killed by members of the Croatian army or was not “war-related” damage. They claimed that they had no effective remedy in respect of their civil claims for damages   QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES   1.     Having regard to the procedural protection of the right to life, was the manner in which the criminal law mechanisms have been applied in the present cases by the domestic authorities in breach of Article 2 of the Convention?   2.     Have the relevant authorities complied with their procedural obligation under Article 14 of the Convention to investigate whether there was any motive behind killings of the applicants’ relatives that might be related to their Serbian origin (see, mutatis mutandis , Šečić v. Croatia , no. 40116/02, § 66, ECHR 2007 ‑ VI)?   3.     Did the applicants have access to a court as regards their civil claims for damages?   4.     Have the applicants at their disposal an effective domestic remedy for their Convention complaints, as required by Article 13 of the Convention?   The Government are invited to submit copies of all case files and other documents concerning the killing of the applicants’ relatives.   APPENDIX     File No Case Name Date of lodging Name of Representative Address of Representative Introduced by 1 56094/12 GRUBIĆ v. Croatia 13/08/2012 L. Šušak Gospodin Luka ŠUŠAK, odvjetnik Iblerov trg 6/1 HR - 10000 Zagreb CROATIE J.Grubić 2 74338/12 BABIĆ v. Croatia 19/10/2012 H. Alajbeg Zajednički odvjetnički ured Hrvoje ALAJBEG i Jakša TOMIĆ, odvjetnici Gundulićeva 2 HR - 21000 Split CROATIE M.Babić 3 75187/12 ŽARKOVIĆ AND OTHERS v. Croatia 12/11/2012 L. Šušak Gospodin Luka ŠUŠAK, odvjetnik Iblerov trg 6/1 HR - 10000 Zagreb CROATIE S.Žarković M.Amanović N.Grubor 4 80960/12 ZDJELAR AND OTHERS v. Croatia 11/12/2012 L. Šušak Gospodin Luka ŠUŠAK, odvjetnik Iblerov trg 6/1 HR - 10000 Zagreb CROATIE J.Zdjelar B.Matkerić M.Rebić Zdjelar B.Zdjelar Č.Zdjelar D.Zdjelar M.Zdjelar M.Zdjelar S.Zdjelar 5 3430/13 VUKOVIĆ AND OTHERS v. Croatia 13/12/2012 L. Šušak Gospodin Luka ŠUŠAK, odvjetnik Iblerov trg 6/1 HR - 10000 Zagreb CROATIE R.Vuković N.Burum Vidović Z.Radić R.Vidović 6 32023/13 SAVIĆ v. Croatia 17/04/2013 H. Alajbeg Zajednički odvjetnički ured Hrvoje ALAJBEG i Jakša TOMIĆ, odvjetnici Gundulićeva 2 HR - 21000 Split CROATIE M.Savić P.Savic 7 32036/13 TRESKAVICA v. Croatia 18/04/2013 H. Alajbeg Zajednički odvjetnički ured Hrvoje ALAJBEG i Jakša TOMIĆ, odvjetnici Gundulićeva 2 HR - 21000 Split CROATIE D.Treskavica N.Treskavica V.Treskavica 8 38882/13 OPAČIĆ AND GODIĆ v. Croatia 31/05/2013 L. Šušak Gospodin Luka ŠUŠAK, odvjetnik Iblerov trg 6/1 HR - 10000 Zagreb CROATIE D.Opačić M.Godic