CEDH · PRESS;HEARINGS;ENG — 7 mars 2007

.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 } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .s7ED160F0 { text-decoration:none } .s33165EBA { font-family:Arial; font-size:8pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 } .s69BE285C { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:85.05pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:-85.05pt } .s9A223E1B { width:11.03pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block } .s595A57E4 { width:85.05pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block } .sD9192BE4 { width:20.37pt; display:inline-block } .sC7EAD8B { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:underline } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .sF6A12959 { width:33%; height:1px; text-align:left } .s2EB42ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt } .s653E6C45 { font-family:Arial; font-size:6.67pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS   149 07.03.2007   Press release issued by the Registrar   GRAND CHAMBER HEARING ARVANITAKI-ROBOTI AND OTHERS v. GREECE KAKAMOUKAS AND OTHERS v. GREECE   The European Court of Human Rights is holding a Grand Chamber hearing today, 7 March 2007 at 9 a.m., in the cases of Arvanitaki-Roboti and Others v. Greece (application no.   27278/03) and Kakamoukas and Others v. Greece (no. 38311/02).     The applicants   In the case of Arvanitaki-Roboti and Others the 91 applicants, all Greek nationals, are members of the National Health System (Εθνικό Σύστημα Υγείας) in their capacity as doctors, and are employed by the public hospital “O Evangelismos”.   In the case of Kakamoukas and Others the 58 applicants, all Greek nationals, are the heirs of owners of property expropriated by the State in 1925, namely an area of land measuring 534,892 sq.m on the outskirts of Salonika.   Summary of the facts   These cases both concern, in particular, the excessive length of the proceedings to which the applicants have been parties.   In the case of Arvanitaki-Roboti and Others the applicants brought administrative proceedings in 1994 seeking to have set aside a hospital’s refusal to pay them an allowance for overtime work, set at a percentage of their basic salary. The proceedings ended with the dismissal of their claims by the Supreme Administrative Court in a judgment of 6   February 2003.   In the case of Kakamoukas and Others the applicants or their ascendants brought administrative proceedings in 1994 seeking to have the encumbrance affecting their land removed. In three judgments delivered in October 1997 the Supreme Administrative Court granted their request. An appeal by the Town Council was declared inadmissible on 28 November 2001. Moreover, in September 1999 the applicants or their ascendants requested the Supreme Administrative Court to set aside a decision to allocate the land in question for the development of a sports and leisure zone. Those proceedings are still pending before the Supreme Administrative Court.   Complaints   Relying on Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time) of the European Convention on Human Rights, the applicants complain in particular about the length of the administrative proceedings to which they have been parties: eight years and more than nine months for two levels of jurisdiction in the case of Arvanitaki-Roboti and Others ; three years and more than one month for the first set of proceedings, and more than seven years to date for the pending proceedings, in the case of Kakamoukas and Others .   In addition, in the case of Arvanitaki-Roboti and Others , the applicants complain that the proceedings in question were unfair and that there has been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property) to the Convention.   Procedure   The application in Arvanitaki-Roboti and Others was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 4 August 2003 and the application in Kakamoukas and Others was lodged on 17 October 2002.   In a Chamber judgment of 18 May 2006, in Arvanitaki-Roboti and Others , the Court held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 on account of the length of the proceedings and declared inadmissible the applicants’ complaints of unfairness and of a breach of their right of property. In respect of non-pecuniary damage, the Court awarded each applicant 7,000 euros (EUR), except for one, to whom it awarded EUR 6,895.   In a Chamber judgment of 22 June 2006, in Kakamoukas and Others , the Court held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 on account of the length of the proceedings and decided, by five votes to two, to award each applicant EUR   5,000 or EUR   8,000, depending on the case, in respect of the non-pecuniary damage sustained, as this damage was not sufficiently compensated by the finding of a violation of the Convention.   The cases were referred to the Grand Chamber at the Greek Government’s request, pursuant to Article 43 of the Convention (Referral to the Grand Chamber). [1]     Composition of the Court   The case will be heard by the Grand Chamber composed as follows:   Jean-Paul Costa (French), President , Christos Rozakis (Greek), Nicolas Bratza (British), Boštjan M. Zupančič (Slovenian), Peer Lorenzen (Danish), Riza Türmen (Turkish), Karel Jungwiert (Czech) Josep Casadevall (Andorran), Margarita Tsatsa-Nikolovska (citizen of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”), Rait Maruste (Estonian), Mindia Ugrekhelidze (Georgian), Anatoli Kovler (Russian), Vladimiro Zagrebelsky (Italian), Lech Garlicki (Polish), David Thór Björgvinsson (Icelandic), Danutė Jočienė (Lithuanian), Mark Villiger (Swiss) [2] , judges , Snejana Botoucharova (Bulgarian), John Hedigan (Irish), Ireneu Cabral Barreto (Portuguese), substitute judges , and also Vincent Berger , Jurisconsult .   Representatives of the parties   Government :   Garifalia Skiani , Konstantinos Georgiadis, Agents ,   Ioannis Bakopoulos , Counsel ;   Applicants :   Arvanitaki-Roboti and Others v. Greece:   Zoï Tsiliouka-Mousmoula , Iannis Stamoulis , Counsel .     Kakamoukas and Others v. Greece :   Dimos Nikopoulos , Counsel.     ***   After the hearing the Court will begin its deliberations, which are held in private. Judgment will be delivered at a later date. [3]   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. [1] Under Article 43 of the European Convention on Human Rights, within three months from the date of a Chamber judgment, any party to the case may, in exceptional cases, request that the case be referred to the 17-member Grand Chamber of the Court. In that event, a panel of five judges considers whether the case raises a serious question affecting the interpretation or application of the Convention or its protocols, or a serious issue of general importance, in which case the Grand Chamber will deliver a final judgment. If no such question or issue arises, the panel will reject the request, at which point the judgment becomes final. Otherwise Chamber judgments become final on the expiry of the three-month period or earlier if the parties declare that they do not intend to make a request to refer. [2] Judge elected in respect of Liechtenstein. [3] This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.