CEDH · CASELAW;COMMUNICATEDCASES;ENG — 12 novembre 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 } .s76CF415B { page-break-before:always; clear:both } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .s6DB91820 { text-align:center } .s8BB62139 { margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto; border-collapse:collapse } .sAC521AF { border:0.75pt solid #949494; padding:1.02pt 5.03pt; background-color:#dfdfdf } .s2EF62ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:12pt } .sEECE831 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; color:#474747 } .s3695F815 { border:0.75pt solid #949494; padding:1.02pt 5.03pt; vertical-align:top; background-color:#dfdfdf } .sD8E76205 { border:0.75pt solid #949494; padding:1.02pt 5.03pt } .sE8934522 { border:0.75pt solid #949494; padding:1.02pt 5.03pt; vertical-align:top } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } Published on 2 December 2024   FOURTH SECTION Application no. 28140/20 Marinela CUCU against Romania and 3 other applications (see list appended) communicated on 12 November 2024 SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE The applications concern the death of the applicants’ husbands, employees of a State-owned coal mining company, in a collective work accident which occurred on 5 February 2011. Criminal proceedings were instituted against four employees of the mining company for non-compliance with the safety and health regulations at work and negligent killing. The applicants joined civil proceedings to the criminal proceedings seeking compensation for their pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage. By a final decision of 20 December 2019 (communicated to the applicants one year and two months after its delivery – on 14 January 2021), the Alba Iulia Court of Appeal acquitted the employees of the mining company holding that due to the complexity of the investigation it was impossible to identify those responsible for the accident. It also dismissed the applicants’ civil claims. The applicants complain, under both, the substantive and procedural limbs of Article 2 of the Convention, about the authorities’ failure to protect their husbands’ lives and their failure to conduct a proper and effective investigation into the cause of the collective work accident. QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES 1.     Was the applicants’ right to life guaranteed by Article 2 of the Convention breached in the present case? In particular, having regard to the positive obligations imposed on the State by this provision ( Öneryıldız v. Turkey [GC], no. 48939/99, §§ 89-90, ECHR   2004 ‑ XII; and Binişan v. Romania , no. 39438/05, §§ 71-75, 20 May 2014), did the State-owned mining company know or ought to have known of the existence of a real and immediate risk and, if so, did it do all that could have been required of it to prevent the lives of the applicants from being avoidably put at risk? Were the existent legislative and administrative regulations concerning safety and health at work implemented effectively?   2.     Did the investigation conducted by the domestic authorities satisfy the conditions of adequacy and promptness as required under the procedural head of Article 2 ( Nicolae Virgiliu Tănase v.   Romania [GC], no. 41720/13, §§   164 ‑ 171, 25   June 2019)? Did the available legal remedies, taken together, and as provided for in law and applied in practice, secure legal means capable of establishing the facts, holding accountable those at fault and providing appropriate redress to the victim? Appendix List of cases No. Application no. Case name Lodged on Applicant Year of Birth Place of Residence Nationality 1. 28140/20 Cucu v. Romania 12/06/2020 Marinela CUCU 1972 Lupeni Romanian 2. 28494/20 Borc-Hici v. Romania 15/06/2020 Lucreţia BORC-HICI 1973 Uricani Romanian 3. 29039/20 Stoi v. Romania 15/06/2020 Mihaela STOI 1975 Uricani Romanian 4. 30091/20 Nădrag v. Romania 12/06/2020 Alina-Claudia NĂDRAG 1987 Uricani Romanian