CEDH · PRESS;FORTHCOMINGJUDGMENTS;ENG — 11 décembre 2006

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .sFE10DC93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s40F41F73 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:right } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .sADADF4A7 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .sC7EAD8B { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:underline } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS   770 11.12.2006   Press release issued by the Registrar   FORTHCOMING GRAND CHAMBER JUDGMENT   14 December 2006   The European Court of Human Rights will be holding a public hearing in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on Thursday 14 December 2006 at 2.30 p.m. (local time) to deliver its Grand Chamber judgment in the case of Markovic and Others v. Italy (application no. 1398/03).   Press releases and texts of the judgment will be available at 2.30 p.m. (local time) on the Court’s Internet site ( http://www.echr.coe.int ).   The ten applicants are all nationals of Serbia and Montenegro and close relatives of people who were killed during the Kosovo conflict when an air strike on the headquarters of Radio Televizije Srbije ( RTS ) in Belgrade on 23   April 1999 by the NATO alliance resulted in 16   deaths.   Dusan and Zoran Markovic were born in 1924 and 1952; their application concerns the death of Dejan Markovic, the former’s son and the latter’s brother. Dusika and Vladimir Jontic were born in 1948 and 1978; their application concerns the death of Slobodan Jontic,   the former’s husband and the latter’s father. Draga Jankovic was born in 1947 and her application concerns the death of her husband, Milovan Jankovic. Mirjana and Slavica Stevanovic were born in 1945 and 1974; their application concerns the death of Slavisa Stevanovic, the   former’s son and the latter’s brother. Milena, Obrad and Dejan Dragojevic were born in 1953, 1946 and 1975 respectively; their application concerns Mr and Mrs Dragojevic’s son and Dejan’s brother, Dragorad Dragojevic.   The applicants brought an action in damages in the Rome District Court, as they considered that Italy’s involvement in the relevant military operations had been more extensive than that of the other NATO members in that Italy had provided major political and logistical support, such as the use of its air bases by aircraft engaged in the strikes on Belgrade and the RTS . The defendants to the action were the Prime Minister’s Office, the Italian Ministry of Defence and the NATO Allied Forces Southern Europe (AFSOUTH) Command.   The Prime Minister’s Office and the Italian Ministry of Defence applied to the Court of Cassation for a preliminary ruling on the issue of jurisdiction under Article 41 of the Code of Civil Procedure. In a judgment of 8 February 2002 which brought the applicants’ action to an end, the Court of Cassation held that the Italian courts had no jurisdiction because Italy’s decision to take part in the air strikes had been a political one and could not, therefore, be reviewed by the courts.   The applicants complain, under Article 6 (right to a fair hearing) of the European Convention on Human Rights read in conjunction with Article 1 (obligation to respect human rights) of the Convention, that they were denied access to a court.   The application was lodged on 6 December 2002 and declared partially admissible on 12   June 2003. On 28 February 2005 the Government of Serbia and Montenegro requested permission to intervene as a third party and, on 28 April 2005, the Chamber relinquished jurisdiction in favour of the Grand Chamber. On 21 June 2005 the United Kingdom Government was given permission to submit written observations.     ***   Press contacts Emma Hellyer (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 90 21 42 15) Stéphanie Klein (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 88 41 21 54) Beverley Jacobs (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 90 21 54 21)   The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe Member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.