CEDH · PRESS;GENERAL;ENG — 27 mars 2002

.s3ABFC313 { font-size:10pt } .s598389F9 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center; font-size:12pt } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s85646119 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify; font-size:12pt } .sAF7EE609 { width:354.4pt; display:inline-block } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .sADADF4A7 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .s906CA806 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:11pt } .s76CF415B { page-break-before:always; clear:both } .s5E15F1C8 { width:0.33pt; display:inline-block } .sC5412BEF { width:51.05pt; display:inline-block } .s2E932ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:11pt } .s85016119 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify; font-size:11pt } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS     171   27.3.2002   Press release issued by the Registrar   Application by Slobodan Milošević declared inadmissible   The European Court of Human Rights has declared inadmissible an application by Slobodan Milošević, former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Mr Milošević, who was born in 1940 and is at present detained in the UN detention centre at The Hague, filed his application against the Netherlands on 20 December 2001.   On 31 August 2001, in summary proceedings brought by Mr Milošević seeking his immediate release and return to Yugoslavia, the President of the Hague Regional Court found that the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) did have sufficient legal basis, that it offered sufficient procedural guarantees, as found by the European Court of Human Rights in its Naletilić v. Croatia decision (no. 51891/99, 4 May 2000), and that the Netherlands courts were not competent to consider the applicant’s request for release as the Kingdom of the Netherlands had lawfully transferred its jurisdiction over the ICTY’s indictees to the ICTY.   Before the European Court of Human Rights, Mr Milošević relied on the following Articles of the European Convention on Human Rights: 5 (right to liberty and security), 6 (right to a fair trial), 10 (freedom of expression), 13 (right to an effective remedy) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination). His complaints are directed against his arrest and detention and the proceedings currently conducted against him in the ICTY.   In its decision the European Court noted firstly that it was not clear whether all the complaints before it had been made previously at the domestic level. To the extent that they had not, the applicant had failed to exhaust the available domestic remedies.   In so far as the complaints had been made at the domestic level, the applicant had not availed himself of the opportunities offered by Netherlands law to challenge the ruling complained of. He had withdrawn an appeal against the judgment of 31 August 2001 which he had lodged with the Court of Appeal. In so doing he had also deprived himself of the possibility of a subsequent appeal on points of law to the Supreme Court.   The competent Chamber of the Court’s Section II accordingly decided, unanimously, that the application had to be dismissed in its entirety for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies, pursuant to Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.   ***   Further information about the Court can be found on its Internet site ( http://www.echr.coe.int ).   Registry of the European Court of Human Rights F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex Contacts:   Roderick Liddell (telephone: (0)3 88 41 24 92)   Emma Hellyer (telephone: (0)3 90 21 42 15) Fax: (0)3 88 41 27 91   The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. On 1 November 1998 a full-time Court was established, replacing the original two-tier system of a part-time Commission and Court.