CEDH · PRESS;CHAMBERJUDGMENTS;ENG — 15 février 2000

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .sFE10DC93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .sA1D3DA2E { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify } .s94935B0F { width:389.85pt; display:inline-block } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .s21B97EC1 { width:25.99pt; display:inline-block } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .s76CF415B { page-break-before:always; clear:both } .s7ED160F0 { text-decoration:none } .s33165EBA { font-family:Arial; font-size:8pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 } .sADADF4A7 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline } .sCB27B9E { width:16.66pt; display:inline-block } .sC5412BEF { width:51.05pt; display:inline-block } .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 } .s3133A7C8 { font-family:Arial; color:#0069d6 } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS     113   15.2.2000   Press release issued by the Registrar   JUDGMENT IN THE CASE OF KURT NIELSEN v. DENMARK     In a judgment delivered at Strasbourg on 15 February 2000 in the case of Kurt Nielsen v. Denmark, the European Court of Human Rights held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 (length of civil proceedings) of the European Convention on Human Rights. Under Article 41 (just satisfaction) of the Convention, the Court awarded the applicant 70,000 (seventy thousand) Danish crowns for non-pecuniary damage.   1.   Principal facts   The applicant, Kurt Nielsen, a Danish national, was born in 1966 and lives in Skanderborg, Denmark.   On 26 February 1988 the applicant instituted court proceedings against three insurance companies claiming compensation for permanent disability and loss of working capacity following a car accident.   Judgment was pronounced by the City Court of Skanderborg on 15   February 1995.   On 28 February 1995 the defendant companies appealed against the judgment.   By judgment of 9 September 1996 the High Court of Western Denmark upheld the judgment.   2.   Procedure and composition of the Court   The application was lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights on 23   September 1996.   Following the entry into force of Protocol No. 11 to the Convention on 1 November 1998 the case was transferred to the Court.   It was assigned to the Second Section, which declared the application admissible on 22 June 1999.   Judgment was given by a Chamber of   7 judges, composed as follows:   Christos Rozakis (Greek), President, Marc Fischbach (Luxemburger), Giovanni Bonello (Maltese), Peer Lorenzen (Danish), Margarita Tsatsa-Nikolovska (FYROMacedonia), András Baka (Hungarian), Egils Levits (Latvian), Judges,   and also Erik Fribergh , Section Registrar .   3.   Summary of the judgment [1]   Complaint   The applicant complained, under Article 6 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, that his case against the three insurance companies was not determined within a reasonable time.   Decision of the Court   Article 6 § 1 of the Convention   The Court established that the proceedings lasted 8 years, 6 months and 13 days for two levels of jurisdiction.   It found that neither the complexity of the case nor the applicant’s conduct could explain such length, but found periods amounting to a total of more than 5   years and 9 months which were imputable to the State authorities and for which the Government had not provided any convincing explanation.   Thus, having regard to this, the overall duration of the proceedings and to what was at stake for the applicant, the Court concluded unanimously that the “reasonable time” requirement of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention was not satisfied.   Article 41 of the Convention   The Court accepted that the applicant suffered damage of a non ‑ pecuniary nature as a result of the length of the civil proceedings instituted by him.   Making its assessment on an equitable basis and having regard to the circumstances of the case - in particular the overall duration of the proceedings and the applicant’s personal situation - the Court awarded the applicant 70,000 DKK as compensation for non-pecuniary damage.   The Court’s judgments are accessible 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. [1] This summary by the registry does not bind the Court.