CEDH · PRESS;FORTHCOMINGJUDGMENTS;ENG — 2 avril 2009

.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 } .sB15BD35E { color:#b5082e } .s7ED160F0 { text-decoration:none } .s653E6C45 { font-family:Arial; font-size:6.67pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 } .s3DC36BA9 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline; color:#0069d6 } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .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 } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS   285 6.4.2009   Press release issued by the Registrar   FORTHCOMING GRAND CHAMBER JUDGMENT   9 April 2009   The European Court of Human Rights will deliver its Grand Chamber judgment in the case of Šilih v. Slovenia (application no.71463/01) in a public hearing on Thursday 9 April 2009 at 11 a.m. (local time) in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg. The case concerns the applicants’ allegation that the Slovenian judicial system was inefficient in proceedings in which they sought to establish the cause of and liability for their son’s death.     ***   Franja and Ivan Šilih are Slovenian nationals who were born in 1949 and 1940 respectively and live in Slovenj Gradec (Slovenia).   The applicants’ son, aged 20, died in hospital on 19   May   1993 after suffering anaphylactic shock, probably as a result of an allergic reaction to one of the drugs administered to him by a duty doctor in an attempt to treat his urticaria.     On 13   May   1993 the applicants lodged a criminal complaint against the duty doctor for medical negligence, which was dismissed for lack of sufficient evidence. On 1   August   1994, subsequent to the entry into force of the European Convention on Human Rights in respect of Slovenia, the applicants lodged a request in the capacity of subsidiary prosecutors to open a criminal investigation. The indictment was lodged on 28 February 1997 and the case was twice remitted for further investigation before the criminal proceedings were discontinued on 18   October   2000 on the ground of insufficient evidence. The applicants appealed unsuccessfully.   In the meantime, in July 1995 the applicants also brought civil proceedings against the hospital and the doctor concerned. The first-instance proceedings, during which the applicants’ case was dealt with by at least six different judges, ended on 25   August   2006, more than 11   years after they had started, with a judgment rejecting the applicants’ civil claim. Subsequently, the applicants lodged an appeal and an appeal on points of law, both of which were unsuccessful. The proceedings are still pending before the Constitutional Court.   The applicants complain about the inefficiency of the Slovenian judicial system in establishing liability for their son’s death, in breach of Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights. They also rely on Articles 6 (right to a fair hearing) and 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the Convention.   The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 19 May 2001. In its judgment of 28   June 2007, the Court held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article   2 concerning the lack of effective legal proceedings to establish the cause of and responsibility for the death of the applicants’ son in hospital. On 12   November 2007 the panel of the Grand Chamber accepted the Government’s request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber under Article   43 [1] (referral to the Grand Chamber). A public hearing was held in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on 2   April 2008.   The press release and the text of the judgment will be available after the hearing on the Court’s Internet site ( http://www.echr.coe.int ).     ***   Press contacts Stefano Piedimonte (telephone : 00 33 (0)3 90 21 42 04) Tracey Turner-Tretz (telephone : 00 33 (0)3 88 41 35 30) Paramy Chanthalangsy (telephone : 00 33 (0)3 88 41 28 30) Kristina Pencheva-Malinowski (telephone : 00 33 (0)3 88 41 35 70) Céline Menu-Lange (telephone : 00 33 (0)3 90 21 58 77)   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.