CEDH · CASELAW;COMMUNICATEDCASES;ENG — 23 octobre 2024

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .s379BC09C { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:right } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .s10950C61 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:justify } .s5E1364CA { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:14pt } .s339D85E6 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:14pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s665E407E { margin-top:66pt; margin-bottom:14pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s3B53EBCA { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:justify; font-size:7pt } .s25D5DE94 { margin-top:66pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:7pt } Published on 12 November 2024   THIRD SECTION Application no. 55672/22 Radovan ÇELA against Albania lodged on 29 November 2022 communicated on 23 October 2024 SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE The applicant is a lawyer in Albania. His home and office were searched on 8 February 2022 by the judicial police and an investigator of the National Investigation Office pursuant to a decision of the First Instance Court against Corruption and Organised Crime issued on 21 November 2021, on the basis of a request by Belgian authorities since criminal proceedings had been instituted in Belgium against several persons, including the applicant, on charges of conspiracy to commit criminal offences, money laundering and forgery of documents. The applicant was also representative of some other suspects in different proceedings in Albania. In the applicant’s law office, his computer and mobile telephone were also searched, and the computer was seized and some documents concerning the applicant’s clients were copied. No objects were seized in the applicant’s home, and no documents copied or downloaded. The applicant’s constitutional complaint of 7 June 2022 was declared inadmissible on 14 July 2022 for non-exhaustion of remedies under the Code of Criminal Procedure. The applicant, relying on Articles 6, 8 and 13 of the Convention complains that the search was carried out contrary to domestic law and the Convention standards, and that he had no remedy in that respect.     QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES 1.     Did the applicant properly exhaust domestic remedies for purposes of his claims under Article 8 of the Convention, given that his constitutional complaint was declared inadmissible for non-exhaustion of remedies under the Code of Criminal Procedure? In particular:   (a) What remedies under the Code of Criminal Procedure were available to the applicant in respect of the searches of his law office and his home, respectively?   (b) What remedies would be capable of finding, as appropriate, a violation of the applicant’s right to respect for his home (and office) and of awarding him compensation in that respect?   (c) Could the applicant have lodged a claim for compensation of damages against the State under Law no. 8510 (1999) on the non-contractual liability of the bodies of State Administration? If so, the Government are invited to submit case-law of domestic courts confirming the effectiveness of that remedy in a situation comparable to the applicant’s.   2.     Has there been an interference with the applicant’s right to respect for his home (including his office), within the meaning of Article   8 §   1 of the Convention? If so, was that interference in accordance with the law and necessary in terms of Article   8 §   2? In particular, did it conform with the requirements of Article 52 of the Code of Criminal Procedure? Was the scope of the search and seizures in accordance with the requirements of Article 8 §   2 of the Convention?   3. Did the applicant have at his disposal an effective domestic remedy for his complaints under Article 8 of the Convention, as required by Article   13 of the Convention?   The Government are invited to submit a copy of the entire case-file concerning the proceedings before the domestic authorities.