CEDH · PRESS;GENERAL;ENG — 17 mai 1999

.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 } .s23A41E03 { width:36pt; display:inline-block } .sFE088FC1 { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:72pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:36pt; text-align:justify; font-size:12pt } .sBF0FE613 { width:36pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .sD3427EA2 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic; text-decoration:underline } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .s9F2A5D62 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:36pt; text-align:justify; font-size:12pt } .s598389F8 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center; font-size:11pt } .s85016119 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify; font-size:11pt } .sA101A847 { font-family:Arial; font-size:11pt; font-weight:bold } .s4BAE41EE { font-family:Arial; font-size:11pt } .s4B8D41EE { font-family:Arial; font-size:10pt } .sA1D3DA2E { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify } .sD061886B { width:26.38pt; display:inline-block } .s82F45008 { width:65.72pt; display:inline-block } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS                           272               17.5.1999   Press release issued by the Registrar     JUDGMENTS IN THREE CASES AGAINST ITALY     The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section) has delivered three judgments in cases brought against Italy concerning the length of criminal proceedings.*       Saccomanno v. Italy (application no. 36719/97)     The Court held unanimously that there had been a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial within a reasonable time) in the case of Giacomo Saccomanno (application no.   36719/97), an Italian lawyer born in 1955 and living in Rosarno (Reggio de Calabre), who was charged with making a false accusation and ultimately acquitted. Although the case was not complex, proceedings lasted six years, four months and 11 days (from 8 October 1990 to 19 February 1997). The Court awarded 10,000,000 Italian lire for non-pecuniary damage and 1,500,000 ITL for costs.     Judgment was given by a chamber of seven judges, composed as follows:   Christos Rozakis (Greek) President Marc Fischbach (Luxemburger) Benedetto Conforti (Italian) Giovanni Bonello (Maltese) Viera Strážnická (Slovakian) Peer Lorenzen (Danish) Margarita Tsatsa-Nikolovska (FYROMacedonia) Judges   and also Erik Fribergh Section Registrar       Cases of Ledonne (no.1) v. Italy and Ledonne (no.2) v. Italy (nos. 35742/97 and   38414/97)     The Court held, by five votes to two, that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 in these cases, which both concern Vincenzo Ledonne, an Italian national born in 1939 and resident in Cosenza. Mr Ledonne was tried for libel in Ledonne (no.1) (application no.   35742/97) and for seeking to justify fascism in Ledonne (no.2) (application no.   38414/97); he was acquitted in both cases. Although neither case was complex, the first lasted five years, five months and eight days and the second, four years, eleven months and five days. Mr Ledonne was awarded 15,000,000 ITL in compensation for non-pecuniary damage in the first case and 12,000,000 ITL in the second. Judges Conforti and Baka submitted dissenting opinions, expressing the view that the applicant had contributed substantially to the length of proceedings in the two cases.     Judgment was given by a chamber of seven judges, composed as follows:   Christos Rozakis (Greek) President Marc Fischbach (Luxemburger) Benedetto Conforti (Italian) Peer Lorenzen (Danish) Margarita Tsatsa-Nikolovska (FYROMacedonian) Andras Baka (Hungarian) Egil Levits (Latvian) Judges   and also Erik Fribergh Section Registrar   ***       * The judgments were delivered on May 12. They will become final under the conditions set out in Article 43 of the Convention.     Full texts of the judgments can be found on the Court’s Internet site: http://www.dhcour.coe.fr . The text of the Saccomanno judgment is available only in French and the two Ledonne judgments, only in English.       Contacts:   Roderick Liddell: 00 (33) (0)3 88 41 24 92 or:   Emma Hellyer: 00 (33) (0)3 90 21 42 15       The European Court of Human Rights was set up in 1959 in Strasbourg to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.   On November 1 1998 a permanent Court was established, replacing the original two-tier system of the part-time Court and European Commission of Human Rights.