6.  The applicant was born in 1925 and lives in Chişinău. 7.  In 1941 the Soviet authorities nationalised the house owned by his parents. In the same year his family was deported to Russia and to Uzbekistan. 8.  On 8 December 1992 the Moldovan Parliament enacted Law No. 1225-XII “on the rehabilitation of the victims of the political repression committed by the totalitarian communist occupying regime”. The Law enabled the victims of the Soviet repression to claim restitution of their confiscated or nationalised property. 9.  In 1997 the applicant lodged an action with the Centru District Court (Judecătoria Sectorului Centru) by which he sought the restitution of his parents’ house. As the former tenants of the house had purchased it from the State, the applicant sought a judicial ruling declaring the purchase contracts null and void. He also requested the eviction of all the occupants of the house. 10.  By a final judgment of 5 November 1997 the applicant’s action was upheld. 11.  Between 1997 and 2002 the applicant lodged numerous complaints about the non-enforcement of the judgment of 5 November 1997 with the Municipal Council, Centru District Court and the Ministry of Justice. 12.  In 2001 the applicant complained to the Court about the non-enforcement of the final judgment of 5 November 1997. The applicant’s application was given number 74153/01 and was communicated to the Government in January 2003. 13.  In April 2004 four occupants of the applicant’s house lodged with the Chişinău Court of Appeal a request for revision of the judgment of 5 November 1997. Relying on Article 449 of the new Code of Civil Procedure they argued in their request that new information had become known to them. They also asked the court to extend the deadline for lodging the request in view of the fact that the new information had been obtained by them from the National Archives in April 2004. 14.  The applicant alleges that on 20 May 2004 the Government Agent offered him for signature an agreement according to the terms of which he would consent to withdrawing his application to the Court and waiving his right to any compensation in exchange for receiving his house. According to the applicant, the Agent allegedly suggested that in the event of his refusal the Court of Appeal would continue the examination of the revision request lodged by the defendants and the proceedings would remain unresolved for a long time. He refused to sign the agreement. 15.  On 26 May 2004 the Court of Appeal examined the revision request lodged by the occupants of the applicant’s house in which newly discovered facts were invoked. 16.  The new facts relied upon by occupants were an issue of the Municipal Official Gazette of 1940 and four certificates from the National Archives and from the Land Register dated 6 April 2004, 18 May 2004 and 19 May 2004. 17.  A certificate from the National Archives dated 6 April 2004 had the following content:
“... according to the Municipal Official Gazette of 1940, there is a house with a new number 36 (old number 46) on the Stefan cel Mare street whose owner is Pelagheia Popova and a house with the new number 33 (old number 37) on the Stefan cel Mare street, whose owner is Pelagheia Popov”. 18.  Another certificate from the National Archives dated 6 April 2004 stated:
“... according to the Archives of the Municipal Council on 29 February 1924 the name of the street Nicolaievskaia was changed to Stefan cel Mare.” 19.  The certificate of 18 May 2004 issued by the National Archives had the following content:
“... according to the data from the Archives of the Chişinău Municipal Council for the year 1930, there was a house with number 37 on the Stefan cel Mare street (Nicolaevscaia) whose owner was Pelagheia Popova and a house with number 46 on the Stefan cel Mare street (Nicolaevscaia) whose owner was Pelagheia Popov.” 20.  The certificate of 19 May 2004 issued by the Land Register to judge N.B. from the Court of Appeal stated that the owner of the house on 33 Columa Street, was Mr Serghei Popov. It also stated that there was no information as to whom that house belonged before 1940 since the first entry in the Land Register was made in 1952. 21.  According to the Official Gazette of 15 March 1940 issued by the Municipal Council of Chişinău, Romania, in order to eliminate the confusion in the numbering of houses which created economic and administrative difficulties, a new numbering was adopted for certain streets, including the Stefan cel Mare street. The owners of the houses on the concerned streets were obliged to buy from the Municipal Council new number plates and to install them on their houses. The new numbering should have taken effect as of 1 April 1940. Until that date the owners had to have both the old and the new numbers on their houses, in order to facilitate the orientation of the population and authorities. According to a list containing the names of the house owners and their corresponding house numbers, Mrs Pelagheia Popov [the applicant’s mother] was the owner of a house with the old number 37 and the new number 33. The Official Gazette does not contain any other references to her. 22.  The Court of Appeal described in its judgment of 26 May 2004 the content of the above documents and concluded that:
“the above circumstances were not examined by the court which decided on the merits and on the appeal. They [the circumstances] have an essential importance for an objective ruling on the case. The court which will re-examine the merits shall determine exactly the location and the surface of the house from which the applicant and his family were evicted.”
The Court of Appeal decided to extend the time limit for the lodging of the revision request without however giving any reasons thereto. It quashed the final judgment of 5 November 1997, ordered the re-opening of the proceedings and sent the file to the first instance court for a fresh examination. 23.  After the hearing, on 26 May 2004, the Government Agent allegedly told the applicant’s representative that, had he consented to sign the agreement, the revision proceedings and the subsequent quashing and re-opening would not have taken place. The Government deny that this conversation ever took place. 24.  On 18 January 2005 the Court adopted a judgment in the case of Popov v. Moldova, (no. 74153/01, 18 January 2005), in which violations of Article 6 § 1 and of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention were found because of the non-enforcement of the final judgment of 5 November 1997 until 26 May 2004. 25.  The proceedings which were re-opened by the Court of Appeal on 26 May 2004 are still pending before the domestic courts. At the date of adoption of the present judgment they were still pending before the first instance court, the Centru District Court.


8.  The applicant is a Lithuanian national, born in 1950 and living in Kaunas. 9.  The applicant, a police commissioner, was suspected of involvement in a conspiracy to smuggle non-ferrous metals in view of his alleged failure to investigate properly the activities of certain smugglers in 1994. He was arrested on 18 August 1995 in the context of criminal proceedings instituted in 1992. There were eight co-accused in the case, including the applicant. 10.  On 22 August 1995 he was charged with obtaining property by deception (sukčiavimas) under Article 274 of the Criminal Code, abuse of office (piktnaudžiavimas tarnyba) under Article 285 of the Code, and official forgery (tarnybinis suklastojimas) under Article 289 of the Code. On 29 November 1995 the prosecution dropped the last charge. 11.  From 1 December 1995 to 18 January 1996 the co-accused had access to the case-file. On 14 February 1996 a prosecutor confirmed the bill of indictment whereby the applicant was indicted for offences under Articles 274 and 285 of the Criminal Code. On 20 February 1996 the case was transferred to the Vilnius Regional Court. 12.  On 17 May 1996 a judge of the Vilnius Regional Court ordered additional investigations and requested that the prosecution supplement the charges under Articles 274 and 285 of the Criminal Code. On 26 June 1996 the Court of Appeal quashed the decision, finding that the Regional Court was able to consider the question of committal for trial without further investigation measures. The Court of Appeal also ordered the applicant’s release on bail. He was released in open court. On 9 July 1996 the Court of Appeal remitted the case to the Vilnius Regional Court. 13.  On 20 September 1996 the judge of the Vilnius Regional Court committed the applicant for trial on the charges under Articles 274 and 285 of the Criminal Code. 14.  During the trial hearing on 24 April 1998 the judge stated:
“... the charge of cheating may be supplemented ... [and] the charge under Article 285 [of the Criminal Code] may be amended by adding the ‘selfish interest’ ... .”
During the trial hearing on 11 May 1998 the judge said:
“... the charge under Article 285 may be supplemented ... with alleged breaches of [the specific provisions] of the Police Act ... .”
During that hearing the trial judge informed the parties that she would pronounce the judgment on 22 May 1998. 15.  On 22 May 1998 the Vilnius Regional Court acquitted the applicant on the count of obtaining property by deception under Article 274 of the Criminal Code. In connection with the charge under Article 285 the court held: “the charge of abuse of office cannot be sustained... . However, [the applicant], being a State official, improperly performed his functions because of negligence” in that he had failed to ensure proper investigation and control of the smuggling case. Since this failure amounted to a breach of certain provisions of the Police Act, the judge found the applicant guilty of official negligence (tarnybos pareigų neatlikimas dėl nerūpestingumo) under Article 288 of the Criminal Code. He was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and deprived of the right to occupy an official position in the system of law enforcement. The judge reduced the custodial sentence by one third pursuant to an amnesty law, and found that the applicant had completed the sentence on account of the time spent in detention on remand. 16.  The applicant appealed against the judgment of 22 May 1998, stating that the Vilnius Regional Court had convicted him of an offence not covered by the initial charges and in respect of which he had not been in a position to defend himself. He noted in particular that during the trial the judge had in no way indicated that the charge of abuse of office could be replaced by one of official negligence. 17.  On 9 September 1998 the Court of Appeal held an appeal hearing on questions of fact and law in the presence of the applicant and his defence lawyer. The appeal court heard addresses by the applicant and a prosecutor. The Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s appeal on the ground inter alia that:
“the allegation that the reclassification was not permitted is unfounded. Both Articles [285 and 288 of the Criminal Code] punish offences against State office. The [first instance court] court only established that [the applicant] improperly performed his functions as an officer because of negligence, but that he did not deliberately take advantage of his official position contrary to the interests of his office. The [original] charge did not refer to breaches [by the applicant] of specific provisions of the Police Act. In accordance with Articles 279 § 2 and 280 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the court warned [the applicant] that the charge could be supplemented with breaches of [the specific provisions] of the Police Act. An adjournment was offered for the preparation of the defence, but the parties did not request such an adjournment ... . The allegation that [the applicant] could not defend himself against the charges is therefore dismissed.” 18.  The applicant filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court, complaining inter alia that the reclassification of the charge had breached his right to defend himself. On 2 March 1999 the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, upholding the decisions of the lower courts. The cassation court held inter alia that the first instance court had reclassified the offence of abuse of office with that of official negligence in accordance with Articles 279 § 2 and 280 of the Code of Criminal Procedure as the appeal court had replaced the initial charge with a lesser one, merely drawing the legal conclusions consistent with the facts laid before it.


7.  The applicant was born in 1948 and lives in Zenzeli village, the Limanskiy District of the Astrakhan Region. 8.  In 1986 the applicant took part in the emergency operations at the site of the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster. As a result the applicant suffered from extensive exposure to radioactive emissions. In 1996 and 1997 the applicant underwent medical examinations which established the link between the applicant’s poor health and his involvement in the Chernobyl events. The applicant was awarded compensation, to be paid monthly. 9.  In 1999 the applicant brought proceedings against the Welfare Office of the Limanskiy District of the Astrakhan Region (Отдел социальной защиты населения Лиманского района Астраханской области - “the defendant”) for an increase in the compensation, for backdating the increase and recovering of the unpaid amount. The applicant considered that the amount of compensation had been determined incorrectly. 10.  On 3 November 1999 the Limanskiy District Court of the Astrakhan Region established, upholding the applicant’s claim, that the applicant was entitled to a monthly compensation of 5,045.73 roubles (RUR). The court established that the debt accrued as a result of previous underpayment was RUR 108,892.07. It also awarded the applicant RUR 60,000.00 as a penalty payment. 11.  By a decision of 14 December 1999 the Astrakhan Regional Court, acting on appeal, upheld the judgment as to the amount of the monthly payment and the principal debt, but reversed the penalty award. The judgment entered into force and enforcement proceedings were instituted. Both parties lodged requests for supervisory review of the courts’ decisions. 12.  On 17 March 2000 the Astrakhan Regional Court stayed the enforcement proceedings, pending the consideration of the defendant’s request for supervisory review. 13.  The defendant’s request for supervisory review was refused by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on 13 April 2000. 14.  On 22 May 2000 the Limanskiy District Court of the Astrakhan Region resumed the enforcement proceedings. 15.  By a decision of 15 August 2000 the President of the Astrakhan Regional Court refused the applicant’s request for supervisory review. 16.  On 15 September 2000 the Limanskiy District Court of the Astrakhan Region granted a request by the Astrakhan Regional Office for Welfare Payments (Астраханский областной центр по начислению и выплате пенсий и пособий) to suspend the enforcement proceedings. The enforcement was stayed until 1 December 2000 to allow the authorities to “decide how to finance the court awards involving the recalculation of compensation to the victims of the Chernobyl catastrophe”. 17.  On 17 October 2000 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation refused the applicant’s request for supervisory review of the suspension order. 18.  On an unspecified date, following a request made by the Astrakhan Regional Office for Welfare Payments, the President of the Astrakhan Regional Court brought an extraordinary appeal against the judgments of 3 November 1999 and 14 December 1999. 19.  On 27 December 2000 the Presidium of the Astrakhan Regional Court examined the appeal and quashed both the judgment of the Limanskiy District Court of the Astrakhan Region dated 3 November 1999 and the judgment of the Astrakhan Regional Court dated 14 December 1999. The Presidium decided that the subordinate courts had wrongly determined the amount of monthly compensation. In particular, they had based all the calculations on the applicant’s salary as of October 1986. The Presidium held that the calculations should have been based on the applicant’s average earnings over the 12 months prior to the date on which the medical examination had established his disability. The case was remitted to the same District Court for a fresh examination. 20.  On 27 February 2001 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, in response to the applicant’s complaint, refused to conduct a supervisory review of the decision of 27 December 2000. 21.  By a judgment of 23 April 2001 the Limanskiy District Court of the Astrakhan Region, acting as a first instance court, awarded the applicant the monthly payment of RUR 3,336.99 and established that the debt accrued was RUR 114,466.01. No penalty was awarded. 22.  On 24 July 2001 the Astrakhan Regional Court acting as an appeal instance reversed the judgment of the Limanskiy District Court of the Astrakhan Region of 23 April 2001. It pointed out that the District Court had applied the calculation mode incorrectly and that the amounts due had to be recalculated. The case was remitted to the same District Court for a new decision. 23.  On 23 September 2002 the applicant filed a complaint with the Astrakhan Regional Court concerning the length of proceedings. He complained in particular that no decision had been taken in his case since 24 July 2001. 24.  In reply dated 27 September 2002, the applicant was informed that on 22 November 2001, on his request, the proceedings had been stayed pending the Constitutional Court’s decision in a similar case. He was informed that the proceedings had been resumed after the Constitutional Court’s ruling of 19 June 2002, and that a hearing had been fixed for 7 October 2002. He was also informed that the hearings had not been fixed until 2 September 2002 on the applicant’s request due to his counsel’s absence. 25.  On 4 November 2002 the Limanskiy District Court of the Astrakhan Region decided that the compensation payable to the applicant by the welfare authorities was RUR 45,640.94. The applicant was also awarded legal costs of RUR 1,300 and non-pecuniary damages of RUR 5,000. 26.  The applicant appealed against this decision. He challenged the principal amount, the amount of non-pecuniary damages and the refusal of the penalty. 27.  By an appeal decision of 14 January 2003 the Astrakhan Regional Court reversed the first instance judgment and remitted the case for fresh examination by the same court. 28.  On 3 March 2003 the Limanskiy District Court of the Astrakhan Region awarded the applicant RUR 235,210.32 of the principal debt, future monthly payments of RUR 4,727.96 and the legal costs of RUR 500. 29.  Both parties appealed against this judgment. 30.  On 29 April 2003 the Astrakhan Regional Court upheld the first instance judgment. 31.  On 5 August 2003 the awarded sums were transferred to the applicant’s bank account.


5.  The applicant is a company registered in Chişinău. 6.  On 20 December 1994 two companies (Tehoptimed and Tudor & K.) concluded a contract according to which the latter rented a warehouse from the former. 7.  In June 1996 the applicant company was registered. On 19 February 1997 the original contract for the use of the warehouse was amended to the effect that all the rights and obligations of Tudor & K. passed to the applicant company. The applicant company stored merchandise (food and clothes) in the warehouse. 8.  On 11 June 1997 the police of the Ciocana Commissariat of Chişinău sealed the warehouse rented by the applicant company. On 30 June 1997 the applicant company complained to the Ciocana Commissar about a violation of its right to property and asked for the reasons for the police action. In a reply dated 2 July 1997 the applicant company was informed that the police had acted on the basis of the order of an investigator of the Chişinău Prosecutor’s Office. 9.  On 30 October 1997 the applicant company requested the Chişinău Prosecutor’s Office to revoke the order. In a letter of 19 November 1997 the Chişinău Prosecutor’s Office stated that its actions had been lawful. The applicant company made several other complaints to the Ciocana Police Commissariat and the Chişinău Prosecutor’s Office and received similar answers. In its complaints, the applicant company claimed that the merchandise taken from the rented warehouse had not been listed in the minutes as required by law and that its total value had been 11,750,000 Moldovan lei (MDL), (approximately 1,059,340 United States Dollars (USD)). 10.  The applicant company initiated court proceedings against the Chişinău Prosecutor’s Office, the Ciocana Police Commissariat and Tehoptimed, requesting the restitution of the MDL 11,750,000. 11.  On 31 March 1998 the Chişinău Economic Court found that the sequestration of the applicant company’s property “in the amount of MDL 11,750,000” from its rented warehouse had been unlawful. It ordered the defendants to return the property taken from the applicant company. No appeal was lodged and the judgment became final 15 days later. 12.  On 3 September 1998 the applicant company requested an expert report to be prepared in order to establish the current value of the property which had been kept in the sealed warehouse since July 1997. On 4 September 1998 the applicant company obtained access to that property. A list of items found in the warehouse was drawn up. 13.  On 14 September 1998 an expert of the Central Laboratory of Scientific Research of the Ministry of Justice concluded that the warehouse had not been heated or ventilated and was infested with moths and rodents. The food and clothes stored in the warehouse had been severely damaged and their monetary value was MDL 74,158 (approximately USD 6,685). 14.  On 29 October 1998 the Râşcani District Court returned the enforcement warrant to the applicant company and notified it that the total value of the merchandise found in the warehouse was MDL 74,158 and that there was no other property to be returned. 15.  The applicant company requested the Chişinău Economic Court to change the manner of enforcing the warrant by ordering payment of the original value of its property. 16.  At the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office, on 19 December 2001 the Supreme Court of Justice quashed the judgment of 31 March 1998 and ordered a re-hearing of the case. 17.  On 23 December 2002 the Chişinău Economic Court left the applicant company’s action unexamined because it had failed to appear and had not submitted the originals of the documents confirming its claims. 18.  On 14 January 2003 the same court returned the applicant company’s appeal (contestaţia in anulare) because of its failure to pay court fees. On 19 March 2003 the Economic Court of the Republic of Moldova ordered a re-hearing of the case, finding that the length of the proceedings had already been excessive and that a decision on the substance of the case was required. 19.  On 11 November 2003 the Chişinău Economic Court rejected the applicant company’s claims. It found that on 23 December 1997 the prosecution had informed the applicant company about the discontinuation of the proceedings and that all the restrictions on the use of its property had been lifted. Accordingly, the applicant company could have used its property from that date, which meant that there was no outstanding issue to be decided by the court. 20.  In its appeal the applicant company stated that the investigator’s order to seize its property had been taken in violation of the law and that the seizure itself had been carried out without drawing up a list of all the items seized, again contrary to the law. The applicant company also noted that the unlawful actions of the prosecution and the police had violated its property rights and that not all the items taken from it had been returned. This resulted in its inability to fulfil its contractual obligations towards third parties. 21.  On 15 January 2004 the Appeals Chamber of the Economic Court left the appeal unexamined because of the applicant company’s failure to pay court fees MDL 352,500, (EUR 21,021 at the time). The court gave the applicant company until 12 February 2004 to pay the court fees. 22.  The applicant company requested the postponement of the payment of court fees until after the examination of its case. It relied on its difficult financial situation, annexing bank certificates proving that there had been virtually no money in its accounts since 2002. It also claimed that in 1997, when it lodged its complaint, no court fees were payable. It finally invoked its right to access to justice. 23.  In response to the applicant company’s request, the court postponed the time-limit for payment of the court fee until 15 March 2004. 24.  On 15 March 2004 the Appellate Chamber of the Economic Court rejected the applicant company’s request to postpone the payment of the court fees pending the examination of the case. The court refused to examine the applicant company’s appeal because of its failure to pay the court fees despite two extensions of the time-limit for payment. 25.  In its appeal in cassation the applicant company relied on its difficult financial situation, which, it claimed, had resulted from the unlawful actions of the police and prosecution and had blocked its economic activity. It asked for the postponement of the payment of court fees until after its appeal had been examined. 26.  On 6 May 2004 the Supreme Court of Justice rejected as unfounded the applicant company’s appeal. The court found that the applicant company’s submissions that the lower courts had not taken into consideration its difficult financial situation was unsubstantiated. It found that the courts had the power but not an obligation to postpone the payment of court fees in accordance with Article 86 of the CCP. It also found that no waiver of court fees was possible for legal persons. Since the applicant company had failed to pay the court fees, its appeal was to be rejected.


5.  The applicants are:
(1)  Ms Khava Tumayeva, born in 1947;
(2)  Ms Aset Khatuyeva, born in 1983;
(3)  Ms Ms Kheda Gigayeva, born in 1979;
(4)  Ms Rukiyat Tumayeva, born in 1981; and
(5)  Ms Zinaida Tumayeva, born in 1954. 6.  The applicants are Russian nationals, who live in the village of Valerik in the Achkhoy-Martanovskiy District of the Chechen Republic. 7.  The first applicant is the mother of Mr Shamkhan Tumayev, born in 1982. The second applicant is Shamkhan Tumayev's common-law wife; they are the parents of two minor children. The third and fourth applicants are Shamkhan Tumayev's sisters. The fifth applicant is his aunt. 8.  At the material time the Tumayev family lived at 13 Titova Street in the village of Valerik. The second applicant was pregnant with her second child. Shamkhan Tumayev occupied the right wing of the house together with the second applicant and their child, whilst the first and third to fifth applicants occupied the left wing. 9.  According to the applicants, at the material time the village of Valerik was under the firm control of the Russian federal troops, who maintained manned checkpoints on the roads at the entry to and exit from the village. Moreover, at the time of the events described below, the village was under a curfew and around forty Russian servicemen were stationed there on a permanent basis. 10.  In the applicants' submission, between 18 and 19 September 2004 about a hundred servicemen from units operating under the direction of Ramzan Kadyrov, the then deputy prime minister of the Chechen Republic, arrived in Valerik with a view to carrying out a sweeping operation. They deployed, amongst other things, tanks, armoured personnel carriers and UAZ all-terrain vehicles. 11.  At about 2 a.m. on 19 September 2004, around fifteen to twenty armed men in camouflage uniforms arrived at the applicants' house. They spoke unaccented Russian and all but one of them wore black masks. They shouted: “Open the doors! Police!”. The second applicant opened the door. Several armed men entered the premises and put the second applicant onto the floor. Some armed men stayed in the courtyard. The intruders took the keys from the second applicant and confiscated several video cassettes of various movies, a video cassette with a recording of Shamkhan Tumayev's father, and Shamkhan Tumayev's mobile phone from the safe. They also took Shamkhan Tumayev's passport, checked it and brought Shamkhan Tumayev away. 12.  In the meantime, the first applicant also opened the door. The intruders immediately asked her to give them a passport. The first applicant inferred that they were servicemen carrying out a passport check. She started looking for her own passport. According to the first applicant, in the meantime the servicemen turned everything upside down. Shortly thereafter they locked the first applicant and her relatives in their part of the house. After a while she heard some movements coming from outside, a shot being fired and the noise of leaving vehicles. The first applicant managed to get outside through the window, whereupon she found out that the intruders had taken away Shamkhan Tumayev, his mobile phone and several video cassettes. Her neighbours told her that they had seen a silvery UAZ-469 vehicle. The first applicant also found two spent cartridges in the yard. 13.  Some of the applicants' neighbours and relatives, who had been woken up because of the noise, tried to follow the abductors but the servicemen threatened to kill them, beat them up, put them against a wall and fired several shots above their heads. 14.  In the morning of 20 September 2004 the applicants discovered that three more inhabitants of the village of Valerik, including a Mr Kh., had been abducted by the armed men. 15.  The description of the events of the night of 19 September 2004 is based on the written statements dated 26 May 2005 by the first, second and third applicants and Z.T., on the written statements of the fifth applicant and A.A. made on 27 May 2005, and on the applicants' hand-written sketch of the premises at 13 Titova Street. 16.  The applicants have had no news of Shamkhan Tumayev since 19 September 2004.
(b)  Media reports regarding Shamkhan Tumayev's disappearance and his fellow residents' meeting in Achkhoy-Martan 17.  On 21 September 2004 a group of residents of Valerik, including the applicants, gathered at the administration of Achkhoy-Martan to protest against the abduction of Shamkhan Tumayev. 18.  The applicants submitted several printouts from internet media and an article from a local newspaper. The information contained therein may be summarised as follows: 19.  On 21 September 2004 an internet newspaper called “Grani.ru” published the following information:
“On 21 September a meeting was conducted in Achkhoy-Martan. According to the news agency “Prima”, participants in the meeting had sought to liberate their fellow resident Shamkhan Tumayev, ... who, according to them, had been abducted by [Ramzan] Kadyrov's forces ...
Several days ago a large number of servicemen of the “battalion” named after Akhmad Kadyrov (the former security service of the former president of Chechnya) had arrived in the [Achkhoy-Martanovskiy] District, which had been followed by “sweeping operations” and abductions of residents of the district.
Two days ago, at about 3 a.m., unknown masked people took 22-year-old Shamkhan Tumayev away by force without giving any explanations. On the same day under similar circumstances, his fellow resident of Valerik, [Mr.] Kh., was abducted.” 20.  On the same day an internet newspaper called “Kavkazskiy uzel” reported as follows:
“Today a considerable number of residents of the village of Valerik gathered at the central square of Achkhoy-Martan, Chechen Republic. They wanted the State authorities to liberate their 22-year-old fellow resident Shamkhan Tumayev, who had been abducted by armed men wearing masks on 19 September. The residents of Valerik consider that Tumayev was kidnapped by officers of the battalion named after Akhmed Kadyrov.
Several days before, a large number of servicemen of that battalion (the former security service of the President of the Chechen Republic) had arrived in the [Achkhoy-Martanovskiy] district in some fifty UAZ vehicles, subsequent to which there had been “sweeping operations” and people had been abducted. In particular, on the day of the abduction of Shamkhan Tumayev a [Mr] Kh., 22 years old, had been abducted under similar circumstances.” 21.  Similar information to that described above was posted on 22 September 2004 by the news agency “Prima” on its website and published on 27 September 2004 in an article of the local newspaper “Imam” entitled “People are still disappearing” (“Люди продолжают пропадать”). 22.  The Government submitted that the domestic investigation had obtained no evidence that any special operations had been conducted in Valerik on the night of the abduction of Shamkhan Tumayev or that any servicemen had been implicated in his abduction. 23.  Immediately after the abduction the applicants complained about it to the local police office, and on the morning of 19 September 2004 they complained about the abduction to the police of Achkhoy-Martan. 24.  Early in the morning of 19 September 2004 a group of police officers arrived at the applicants' house. They examined the crime scene, took casts of footprints left there and questioned Shamkhan Tumayev's family members. 25.  On 20 September 2004 the applicants visited Mr D., the head of the administration of the Achkhoy-Martanovskiy District. Mr D. promised them that he would make a few phone calls in order to gather information on Shamkhan Tumayev's whereabouts. On an unspecified date D. came to the village of Valerik and told the applicants that they should not worry and that their relative would return home. 26.  Subsequently all of the applicants applied to various authorities with a request that they be assisted in searching for Shamkhan Tumayev. 27.  On an unspecified date the first applicant requested that the military commander's office of the Achkhoy-Martanovskiy District and the prosecutor's office of the Achkhoy-Martanovskiy District (“the district prosecutor's office”) establish her son's whereabouts. 28.  On 24 September 2004 the district prosecutor's office forwarded the second applicant's complaint about the abduction of Shamkhan Tumayev to the head of the department of the interior of the Achkhoy-Martanovskiy District (“ROVD”) and requested the latter body to carry out an inquiry into the matter complained of. The letter stated, in particular, that, per the applicant's complaint, at about 2 a.m. on 19 September 2004 unidentified armed persons wearing masks and camouflage uniforms had burst into the applicants' house and had abducted Shamkhan Tumayev. The abductors had arrived in three white UAZ-469 vehicles. 29.  On 29 September 2004 the district prosecutor's office instituted an investigation into Shamkhan Tumayev's disappearance under Article 126 § 2 of the Russian Criminal Code (“aggravated kidnapping”). The case file was assigned the number 38043. The applicants submit that they were not promptly informed of the decision to open the investigation. 30.  On 8 October 2004 the ROVD forwarded the first applicant's complaint of the abduction of her son to the district prosecutor's office. 31.  On 24 December 2004 the district prosecutor's office informed the applicants that the term of the preliminary investigation of case no. 38043 had been extended until 29 January 2005. 32.  On 29 January 2005 the district prosecutor's office informed the first applicant that the investigation into Shamkhan Tumayev's kidnapping had been suspended because of its failure to identify the perpetrators. 33.  On 3 February 2005 the first applicant requested that the district prosecutor's office open a criminal investigation into the abduction of her son, grant her victim status in those proceedings and provide her with copies of the related decisions. 34.  On 12 February 2005 the district prosecutor's office informed the first applicant of the following. Shamkhan Tumayev had been abducted by around fifteen unidentified armed men in camouflage uniforms driving a VAZ-2131 vehicle, a UAZ-469 and an all-terrain UAZ vehicle. The district prosecutor's office had opened an investigation into case no. 38043 and had taken certain investigative measures. In particular, they had examined the crime scene, had compiled a plan of unspecified investigative steps to be taken, had come up with a number of unspecified versions of the abduction and had interviewed the applicants' neighbours and other residents of Valerik. They had also sent requests to various law-enforcement agencies in the Chechen Republic, Ingushetia, Dagestan and the Stavropol Region. However, Shamkhan Tumayev's whereabouts had not been established. On 29 January 2005 the investigation had been suspended. Nevertheless, unspecified operational and search measures were being taken to resolve the crime. 35.  On 25 May 2005 the first applicant requested that the district prosecutor's office inform her of the progress in the investigation into her son's kidnapping. It is unclear whether her request was ever replied to. 36.  Despite specific requests by the Court, the Government did not disclose most of the contents of criminal case no. 38043, providing only copies of some documents relating to the preliminary ROVD inquiry (see below), the decision to institute the investigation; records of several witnesses' interviews; some of the decisions to suspend and reopen the investigation; the crime scene and site inspection reports concerning the applicants' house and three checkpoints; and copies of several replies from the State authorities to the requests for information on Shamkhan Tumayev and his whereabouts made in the course of the investigation. 37.  The Government stated that the investigation was in progress and that disclosure of the documents would be in violation of Article 161 of the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure and in breach of the interests of unspecified parties to criminal proceedings. 38.  Most of the documents submitted by the Government were illegible or legible only in part. All pages in the file submitted by the Government contained three separate page numbers; some documents concerning investigative actions dated November 2004 had been placed in the file submitted to the Court before the documents dated October and September 2004. Some copies of interview records were not full, i.e. they contained only the first page with the witness's data and the beginning of their respective accounts of the events, whilst the remaining pages were missing. In at least five copies of interview records, the year “2005” appears to have been written over with the year “2008”. 39.  The information concerning the investigation, provided by the Government and contained in the documents submitted by them, in so far as they are legible, may be summarised as follows.
(b)  Preliminary inquiry conducted by the ROVD 40.  On 19 September 2004 the ROVD received the applicants' complaint about the abduction of Shamkhan Tumayev. In the complaint, the applicants had stated that at about 2 a.m. on 19 September 2004 a group of persons in camouflage uniforms and masks driving three white UAZ-469 vehicles had abducted Shamkhan Tumayev and had taken him to an unknown destination. 41.  On the same date the ROVD launched a preliminary inquiry into the abduction and inspected the crime scene. According to the crime scene inspection report, no objects of interest for the inquiry were found in the applicants' house. The report did not mention whether or not there had been a disturbance in the house. 42.  Again on the same date, ROVD officers obtained a written statement from the second applicant, in which she explained that at about 2 a.m. on 19 September 2004 someone had started knocking on the door of the part of the house where she had been staying with Shamkhan Tumayev and their two-year-old daughter. When she had opened the door, a group of three to four armed men in camouflage uniforms and masks had burst inside and had ordered everyone to lie down. The applicant had inferred that the intruders were servicemen and had complied with the order. Some of the servicemen had then taken Shamkham Tumayev outside and others had ordered the second applicant to open a safe. The servicemen had taken several video cassettes of Indian movies from the safe and had explained that they would check whether they contained any recording of members of illegal armed groups or their terrorist activities. The second applicant had seen about ten servicemen in total and submitted that she had not seen or heard any vehicles in the courtyard or on the street. 43.  Upon being interviewed again on the same date, the second applicant confirmed her account of the events given in the written statement and submitted in addition that, immediately after Shamkhan Tumayev's abduction and after the first applicant had managed to get outside, they had alerted their relatives to the abduction. Their relatives had caught up with the abductors and had seen their vehicles. 44.  On 19 September 2004 ROVD officers interviewed Mr Sh. T. He submitted that at about 3 a.m. on 19 September 2004 the first applicant had come to his house and had told him about the abduction of Shamkhan Tumayev, following which Sh. T. and three other individuals, I.M., A.T. and R.Kh., had gone in their vehicle in the direction of the neighbouring village of Katyr-Yurt. Whilst they had been driving in Katyr‑Yurt, their car had been stopped by a group of armed men wearing masks, who had checked the vehicle's passengers' identity papers and had ordered them to return home. At about 6 a.m. on 19 September 2004 Sh. T. and his companions had left for Achkhoy-Martan. On their way there they asked servicemen at checkpoint no. 181 whether a convoy of two UAZ vehicles, a silvery Niva and a UAZ all-terrain vehicle had passed the checkpoint on that night, and the servicemen at the checkpoint had allegedly confirmed the passage of those vehicles. 45.  On the same date ROVD officers interviewed Mr V.I., residing at 26 Titova Street. He submitted that at about 2 a.m. on 19 September 2004 he had been woken up by the noise of vehicles coming from the street. V.I. had not gone outside. In the morning he had learnt about the abduction of Shamkhan Tumayev. 46.  It appears that on the same date, 19 September 2004, the ROVD officers also interviewed the first applicant. She stated that at about 2 a.m. on 19 September 2004 she had been woken up by knocking on the front door. When she had opened it, three masked and armed persons in camouflage uniforms had burst inside and had asked her to give them her son's passport. The intruders had then locked the first applicant and her relatives up. The first applicant had managed to get outside through the window, whereupon she had seen the second applicant, who had told her that the intruders had taken Shamkhan Tumayev away. The first applicant had heard the noise of several vehicles leaving. 47.  On 21 September 2004 the ROVD extended the time-limit for carrying out the preliminary inquiry into the abduction of Shamkhan Tumayev until 1 October, owing to the need to carry out unspecified additional investigative actions. It is unclear whether the ROVD took any further investigative steps after 21 September 2004. 48.  By letter of 29 September 2004, the district prosecutor's office instructed the ROVD to carry out a preliminary inquiry into the applicants' complaint of the abduction of Shamkhan Tumayev by a group of armed men in masks and camouflage uniforms who had been driving three white UAZ‑469 vehicles.
(c)  Institution of the investigation by the district prosecutor's office 49.  On 29 September 2004 the district prosecutor's office received the materials from the preliminary inquiry and instituted a criminal investigation into the abduction of Shamkhan Tumayev under Article 126 § 2 of the Criminal Code (aggravated kidnapping). The case file was given the number 38043. The decision stated, amongst other things, that from the materials of the ROVD preliminary inquiry it followed that at about 2 a.m. on 19 September 2004 a group of about 15 armed men in camouflage uniforms and masks, driving a VAZ-2131 vehicle, a UAZ-469 vehicle and an all-terrain UAZ vehicle, had arrested Shamkhan Tumayev and had taken him to an unknown destination.
(d)  Investigative steps taken between September 2004 and February 2005 50.  On an unspecified date the district prosecutor's office compiled a plan of investigative steps for case no. 38043. 51.  On 30 September 2004 investigator D. of the district prosecutor's office carried out an additional crime scene inspection at 13 Titova Street, but found no objects of interest to the investigation. 52.  On 1 October 2004 investigator D. interviewed the applicants' neighbour, N.T., as a witness. He stated that at about 2 a.m. on 19 September 2004 a group of about fifteen armed persons in masks and camouflage uniforms had burst into the applicants' house and had abducted Shamkhan Tumayev. N.T. had learnt about the particular circumstances of the abduction from the applicants at about 3 a.m. on 19 September 2004 and had immediately gone to their house. In the morning on 19 September 2004 several ROVD officers had come to the applicants' house, had inspected the crime scene and had interviewed the applicants and a number of witnesses. During the interviews, the officers had established that the intruders had driven a VAZ-2131 vehicle, a UAZ-469 vehicle and an all-terrain UAZ vehicle, which had been stationed further along Titova Street. The abductors had not parked the vehicles close to the applicants' house because it was situated in a dead end and they would have encountered problems turning around and going back. 53.  On 1 October 2004 the first applicant was granted victim status in the proceedings relating to case no. 38043. The decision granting her such status stated that at about 2 a.m. on 19 September 2004 about fifteen armed masked men in camouflage uniforms, who had been driving a VAZ-2131, a UAZ-469 and an all-terrain UAZ vehicle, had arrested Shamkhan Tumayev and had taken him to an unknown destination. 54.  On the same date the first applicant was interviewed. She reiterated her earlier submissions concerning the circumstances of the abduction of her son and stated, amongst other things, that, when she had managed to get outside after having been locked up, she had seen the second applicant, who had told her about the abduction. The first applicant herself had heard the noise of the vehicles leaving. Although she had not seen the vehicles herself, her neighbours had told her that the abductors had come in a VAZ‑2131, a UAZ-469 and all-terrain UAZ vehicles. The first applicant had also stated that the abductors had spoken Russian. 55.  On 3 October 2004 the investigators interviewed Mr R.D., an officer of the ROVD. He stated, amongst other things, that on 19 September 2004 he had participated in the inspection of the crime scene and the interviewing of the applicants and witnesses. He confirmed the description of the events given to him by the second applicant in her written statement of 19 September 2004 and also referred to her saying that the abductors' vehicles had not been parked directly at the applicants' house but further along the street because the house was at a dead end and that the abductors would have had problems turning around on their way back. 56.  On 7 and 11 October 2004 investigator D. inspected checkpoints nos. 186 and 190 located at the exit from and entry to Achkhoy-Martan. According to the relevant inspection records, no objects of interest to the investigation were found or seized. Both records stated that the checkpoints' vehicle passage logbooks had contained no records concerning the registration of vehicles between 19 and 21 September 2004. 57.  On 12 October 2004 the investigators interviewed the first applicant, who reiterated her earlier submissions concerning the abduction of her son, the abductors' having asked for his passport and having locked her up with her relatives. She also stated that she had learnt from her neighbours about the vehicles in which the abductors had come. 58.  On the same date the investigators interviewed Sh. T. as a witness. He stated that at about 3 a.m. on 19 September 2004 the applicants had come to his home and had told him about the abduction of Shamkhan Tumayev. Sh. T. had spoken to unspecified people and had learnt from them that the abductors had come in a white armoured Gazel vehicle, a white VAZ-2107 and an all-terrain UAZ vehicle. The above-mentioned unspecified people had not been able to tell Sh. T. whether the vehicles had had licence plates. Those vehicles had gone first in the direction of Katyr‑Yurt but had then turned around and headed in the direction of Shaami-Yurt. 59.  The fourth applicant, who was interviewed as a witness on 12 October 2004, stated that at about 2 a.m. on 19 September 2004 a group of armed men in camouflage uniforms and masks had burst into the applicants' house and had taken away Shamkhan Tumayev. After their departure the applicants had not been able to find Shamkhan Tumayev's mobile phone. 60.  Between 5 October and 8 November 2004 various State authorities, including the local office of the FSB and the ROVD, replied to the district prosecutor's office affirming that they had no information on Shamkhan Tumayev's whereabouts. 61.  On 24 November 2004 the district prosecutor's office wrote to the applicants to notify them that the term of the preliminary investigation of case no. 38043 had been extended for three months. 62.  On 25 November 2004 the investigators interviewed the applicants' neighbour, V.T. He stated that at about 3 a.m. on 19 September 2004 he had been woken up by shots being fired. He had dressed himself, had gone outside and had seen the first applicant, who had told him about the abduction of Shamkhan Tumayev. The intruders had come to the applicants' house on foot, having left their vehicles further along the street. They had also locked the first applicant and her relatives up during the abduction. 63.  Between 6 October 2004 and 3 February 2005 the investigation interviewed some thirty residents of Valerik as witnesses. They stated, in almost identical terms, that they had learnt about the abduction of Shamkhan Tumayev from their fellow residents of Valerik or from the applicants. In particular, they had learnt that at about 2 a.m. on 19 September 2004 a group of about fifteen armed masked men in camouflage uniforms had burst into the applicants' house and had taken Shamkhan Tumayev away. The abductors had spoken Russian and had arrived in several vehicles, including UAZ-469, VAZ-2131 and an all‑terrain UAZ vehicle. One witness also mentioned a Gazel vehicle.
(e)  Investigative actions carried out in June and July 2007 64.  According to an interview record dated 21 June 2007, on that date investigator D. interviewed the fourth applicant as a witness. She confirmed her previous account of the events concerning the abduction of Shamkhan Tumayev and submitted that she had mistakenly stated during her previous interview that the abductors had taken Shamkhan Tumayev's mobile phone. She had subsequently learnt from the second applicant that Shamkhan Tumayev had sold the mobile phone about a week before his abduction. She also stated that the video cassettes had not been confiscated. 65.  According to a further interview record dated 21 June 2007, on that date investigator D. interviewed the second applicant as a witness. She confirmed her earlier description of the circumstances of her husband's abduction and stated that, although she had submitted in her previous interview that the abductors had said that they would seize the video cassettes, they had not taken them in the end. As to her husband's mobile phone, she stated that he had sold it a week before his abduction. Their other relatives had not known about it and had stated to the investigation that it had been taken by the abductors. 66.  On 21 June 2007 the investigation interviewed Sh. T. as a witness. He stated that whilst being interviewed on 12 October 2004, he had told the investigators that the abductors had gone first in the direction of Katyr-Yurt and subsequently in the direction of Shaami-Yurt. However, Sh. T. had learnt about that fact on the morning on 19 September 2004 from unspecified residents of Valerik, who had gathered at the local administration's office. Sh. T. had not known who had seen the vehicles move in the above-mentioned direction. 67.  On 21 June 2007 investigator D. refused to open a criminal case into the seizure of the video cassettes and the mobile phone from the applicants' house by the abductors of Shamkhan Tumayev. The decision stated that at about 2 a.m. on 19 September 2004 unidentified armed persons in masks and camouflage uniforms, who had been driving a VAZ-2131, a UAZ-469 and an all-terrain UAZ vehicle, had abducted Shamkhan Tumayev from 13 Titova Street. Referring to the statements obtained from the second and fourth applicants on 21 June 2007, the investigator found that there was no evidence that the video cassettes and the mobile phone had ever been stolen. Lastly, it was stated that it was open to the applicants to appeal against the decision to a higher prosecutor or a court under Article 124 or 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. On the same date investigator D informed the applicants of the decision. 68.  Between 25 June and 16 July 2007 investigator D. interviewed some twenty-one residents of Valerik. According to copies of their interview records, which are identically worded, the witnesses had learnt about the abduction of Shamkhan Tumayev from their fellow residents. Shamkhan Tumayev's abductors had been armed and masked and had worn camouflage uniforms. They had driven a VAZ-2131, a UAZ-469 and all‑terrain UAZ vehicles without registration plates. The related documents included two records of interviews with an individual called R.S.Yu., who was said to reside at the same address. The interview records were dated 25 and 30 June 2007 and were identical to each other. 69.  It appears that on an unspecified date in July 2007 the investigation was suspended.
(f)  Reopening of the investigation in February 2008 70.  On 7 February 2008 the deputy head of the Achkhoy-Martanovskiy inter-district investigating department within the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation reopened the investigation of case no. 38043. The decision to do so had stated that the investigation had been suspended and reopened on numerous occasions, owing to its failure to identify the perpetrators. The latest decision to suspend the investigation had been issued on 19 July 2007. An examination of the file had revealed that the decision to suspend the investigation had been premature, because not all relevant investigative steps had been taken. 71.  On the same date investigator D. wrote to the applicants to notify them about the reopening of the investigation. 72.  The Government submitted that the investigation of case no. 38043 was pending.


5.  The applicant was born in 1947 and lives in Pabianice. She owns a semi‑detached house located in a residential area. A tailoring workshop employing about 20 people was located in the other half of the building. 6.  On 14 September 1993 the applicant made an application to the City Council for a ban on the operation of the workshop or at least for measures to be taken to reduce the level of noise it generated. 7.  On 11 June 1994 the Director of the Pabianice District Office, to which the application of 14 September 1993 must have been transferred, issued a decision in which it found that the workshop was operating without the required permission. He obliged the owner of the workshop to take steps to remedy the situation, inter alia by obtaining an environmental impact assessment of the workshop and by carrying out adaptation works. 8.  On 30 January 1995 the Governor of Łódź approved a “[t]echnical project on protection of the environment against noise”, and obliged the owner to comply with the project and to submit an evaluation of the noise level. 9.  On 7 February 1995 the Governor of Łódź approved the location of the workshop on condition that the owner complied with the requirements set out in the decision of 30 January 1995. 10.  On 15 March 1995 the Director of the Construction Supervision Department of the Town Office gave instructions as to the way in which the works to adapt the workshop should be conducted. The applicant appealed. 11.  On 4 April 1995 the applicant lodged an appeal with the Governor of Łódź in which she complained that she had not been allowed to participate in the proceedings. She submitted that she should have been treated as a party to them and that she had not received an answer to her application of 14 September 1993. 12.  On 11 May 1995 the applicant made an application to the Minister of Environment for the proceedings – which must have been discontinued on an unspecified earlier date – to be reopened in order to enable her to participate as a party to the proceedings in order to have her arguments taken into consideration. 13.  On 17 May 1995 the Governor of Łódź stayed the appeal proceedings against the decision of 15 March 1995 until the request for reopening of 11 May 1995 had been considered. The workshop’s owner appealed. 14.  On 7 August 1995 the General Inspector of Construction Supervision quashed the decision of 17 May 1995. 15.  On 20 October 1995 the Governor of Łódź stayed the appeal proceedings against the decision of 15 March 1995. The workshop’s owner appealed. 16.  On 15 December 1995 the General Inspector of Construction Supervision upheld the decision of 20 October 1995. The applicant appealed. 17.  On 25 February 1997 the applicant made an application to the Governor of Łódź requesting, inter alia, that the decisions of 7 August 1995 and 15 December 1995 be quashed and that the operation of the workshop be stayed until a decision was made on the merits of her request of 1993. 18.  On 14 November 1997 the Minister of Environment quashed the decisions of 7 August 1995 and 30 January 1995. In the written grounds he stated that the noise pollution inside the applicant’s home was not a matter of environmental protection, so that there was no legal basis for the proceedings to be instituted. The applicant appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court. 19.  In a letter of 12 January 1998 to the Director of the Pabianice District Office the applicant requested that the appeal proceedings against the decision of 15 March 1995 be stayed until the appeal against the decision of 14 November 1997 lodged with the Supreme Administrative Court had been decided. On 30 January 1998 the Governor of Łódź, to whom this request must have been transmitted, stayed the proceedings as requested. The applicant’s neighbour appealed. 20.  On 18 March 1998 the General Inspector of Construction Supervision quashed the decision of 30 January 1998 and remitted the case for reconsideration. 21.  On 26 August 1998 the Governor of the Town of Łódź upheld the decision of 15 March 1995 and set a new time-limit for the workshop’s owner to comply with the imposed obligations. 22.  On 25 November 1998 the Director of the Pabanice District Office granted permission for the operation of the workshop. The applicant appealed.  On 23 March 1999 the Governor of Łódź quashed the decision of 25 November 1998 and remitted the case for reconsideration. The workshop’s owner appealed. 23.  On 13 November 2001 proceedings were instituted to determine whether the operation of the workshop was lawful.  On the same day the applicant was informed that on 13 December 2001 an inspection of the building would be carried out. On the same day  the Supreme Administrative Court dismissed the owner’s appeal against the decision of 23 March 1999. 24.  On 29 November 2001 the Mayor of Pabianice stayed the proceedings concerning the granting of permission until the Pabianice District Inspector of Construction Supervision had given a decision as to whether the operation of the workshop complied with the applicable legal requirements. The applicant appealed. 25.  On 8 March 2002 the Mayor of Pabianice issued an operation permit for the workshop. The applicant appealed.  On 26 April 2002 the Governor of Łódź informed the applicant that the time-limit set by law to decide on her appeal had been extended because of the need for checks to be done by the building inspection authorities. 26.  On 7 June 2002 the Governor of Łódź upheld the decision of 8 March 2002. The applicant lodged a complaint with the Supreme Administrative Court. 27.  By a decision of 29 October 2002 the Pabianice District Inspector of Construction Supervision authorised the operation of the workshop. The applicant appealed. 28.  On 25 February 2003 the Supreme Administrative Court quashed the decision of 7 June 2002 and the preceding decision of 8 March 2002. It observed that noise evaluation tests were necessary for a decision allowing the operation of the workshop. Such tests had already been carried out in the case, but not in an appropriate manner. They should have been carried out during the working hours of the workshop and at different times and should have allowed for the applicant’s involvement to enable her to put forward her arguments to the person conducting the tests. 29.  On 18 March 2003 the Pabianice Inspector of Construction Supervision stayed the proceedings concerning the permission to operate the workshop. The applicant appealed and they were resumed at an unspecified later date. 30.  On 3 July 2003 the Mayor of Pabianice issued a decision obliging the workshop’s owner to supplement the submitted documentation by, inter alia, submitting an evaluation of the noise level before 30 September 2003. 31.  On 29 October 2003 the District Inspector of Construction Supervision gave permission to operate the workshop on the basis of noise evaluation tests carried out by a certain S.K. The applicant appealed, challenging the soundness of the outcome of the tests and the way they had been carried out. 32.  On 28 January 2004 the Łódź Regional Inspector of Construction Supervision quashed the decision of 29 October 2003, finding that the applicant had not been given an opportunity to be sufficiently involved in the noise evaluation tests. 33.  On 22 October 2004 the applicant lodged a complaint with the Łódź Regional Inspector of Construction Supervision about inactivity on the part of the Pabianice District Inspector of Construction Supervision, to whom the case had been remitted for reconsideration on the strength of the decision of 28 January 2004. 34.  On 20 October 2004 the Łódź Regional Inspector of Construction Supervision gave a decision in which it found inactivity on the part of the Pabianice District Inspector of Construction Supervision and obliged him to give a decision by 20 February 2005. 35.  On 14 January 2005 the applicant lodged a complaint with the General Inspector of Construction Supervision about the administration’s failure to act in her case. 36.  By a decision of 7 March 2005 the General Inspector of Construction Supervision stated that no inactivity on the part of the Łódź Regional Inspector of Construction Supervision had been found. 37.  On 18 March 2005 the Pabianice District Inspector of Construction Supervision stayed the proceedings concerning the request for permission to operate, pending the outcome of noise tests to be carried out by the Regional Inspector of Environmental Protection. The applicant appealed. On 23 June 2005 the Łódź Regional Inspector of Construction Supervision allowed her appeal, quashed the decision staying the proceedings and ordered that they should be conducted further. 38.  On 27 July 2005 the applicant complained to the administrative court about the District Inspector’s failure to take any steps to have a proper noise evaluation carried out and to give a decision on the merits of the case. In his reply of 25 August 2005 the Regional Inspector summarised the developments in the proceedings since the applicant’s complaint of 22 October 2004 and reiterated that the proceedings were, after its decision of 23 June 2005, pending before the first-instance authority. It noted that the applicant’s appeal against the decision of 18 March 2005 to stay the proceedings was fully justified. 39.  By a judgment of 20 October 2005 the Łódź regional administrative court partly allowed the applicant’s complaint and set a one-month time‑limit for the District Inspector to give a decision. It summarised the conduct of the proceedings since its judgment of 25 February 2003. It further observed that the proceedings had been conducted exceedingly slowly and that no valid justification for this unreasonable delay had been adduced by the administrative authorities. 40.  The proceedings are pending.


5.  The applicant was born in 1944 and lives in Vienna. 6.  On 4 August 1998 the Meidling District Court (Bezirksgericht), in summary proceedings, ordered the applicant to pay 102,330.48 Austrian schillings (ATS), approximately 7,440 euros (EUR) to G. for the cost of plumbing work carried out in her apartment (Zahlungsbefehl). 7.  On 26 May 1999 the District Court granted G.'s request for the enforcement of the payment of this order and the costs of the proceedings in the amount of approximately EUR 2,150 by judicial sale (Zwangsversteigerung) of the applicant's apartment situated at S.-street 23/17, in the 12th district of Vienna. That address was used by the courts for serving this and subsequent decisions. A registered letter was sent to the applicant at the above address. As it could not be handed over to her personally, it was served on her on 8 June 1999 by deposition (Hinterlegung) in the post office. 8.  On 27 July 1999 the Meidling District Court, referring to two further enforceable payment orders of 24 October 1995 and 15 June 1999 respectively (amounting to approximately EUR 2,100) and to the costs of the respective proceedings, granted another creditor, W., leave to accede to the judicial sale. 9.  The applicant was informed of the date of the judicial sale by registered letter, which was again sent to her address at S.-street 23/17, and was served by deposition in the post office on 6 October 1999. 10.  On 17 November 1999 the judicial sale took place. The applicant did not assist. The District Court sold the applicant's apartment (Zuschlag) for 812,000 ATS (approximately EUR 59,000) to H. GmbH, a limited liability company. The decision of sale was served on the applicant on 24 November 1999 by deposition in the post office. 11.  By a decision of 14 January 2000 the District Court allocated shares of the proceeds to the creditors (Meistbotsverteilungsbeschluss). 12.  In February 2000 the applicant was evicted from the apartment. 13.  In March 2000 the applicant had a nervous breakdown and stayed in a psychiatric hospital between 2 March 2000 and 12 April 2000. It cannot be established on the basis of the file where the applicant lived for the rest of the year 2000. It appears that in 2001 she was housed in a community owned apartment, where she is still living. 14.  In connection with the applicant's stay in the psychiatric hospital, the Fünfhaus District Court instituted guardianship proceedings (Sach-walterschaftsverfahren) and, on 15 March 2000, appointed a provisional guardian for the applicant. In these proceedings a medical expert submitted that the applicant had suffered from paranoid psychosis since 1994 and had since then not been able to make rational decisions, in particular as far as housing matters were concerned. On 15 May 2005 a permanent guardian was appointed for the applicant. 15.  On 3 April 2000 the Meidling District Court served the decision of 17 November 1999 concerning the judicial sale of the applicant's apartment on the applicant's guardian. On 17 April 2000 the applicant, represented by her guardian, appealed against this decision. Referring to the guardianship proceedings, she submitted that the enforcement proceedings were null and void as she had not been capable of participating in the proceedings (prozeßfähig) either at the time of delivery of the respective payment orders or at the time of delivery of the decisions granting enforcement and summoning her to the judicial sale. She further requested that the enforcement proceedings be suspended. 16.  On 26 April 2000 the District Court dismissed the applicant's request for the enforcement proceedings to be suspended. On 3 May 2000 it granted a part of the surplus of the judicial sale to another creditor, A. The applicant, referring again to her argument that the enforcement proceedings should be considered null and void, appealed against both decisions. She further submitted that she had paid all outstanding debts to G. in July 1999. 17.  On 23 June 2000 the Vienna Regional Civil Court (Landesgericht) suspended the proceedings concerning the appeal against the judicial sale of the applicant's apartment and ordered the Meidling District Court to decide on the applicant's capacity to participate in the proceedings since June 1999, when the decision granting enforcement by judicial sale of her apartment had been served on her. 18.  On the applicant's requests, the Meidling District Court, on 3 July 2000, found that the payment orders of 4 August 1998 and 15 June 1999 (see paragraphs 6 and 8 above) were not enforceable. Relying on section 7 § 3 of the Enforcement Act (Exekutionsordnung), it found that the applicant had not been capable of participating in the proceedings at the time of the delivery of the decisions at issue. For the same reasons the Hernals District Court, on 3 May 2001, referring to the expert opinion obtained in the guardianship proceedings and a further expert opinion, found that the payment order of 24 October 1995 (see paragraph 8 above) was not enforceable. 19.  Referring to the first decision, the applicant, in October 2000, requested the District Court to discontinue the enforcement proceedings. On 12 January 2001 the District Court dismissed this request and noted that discontinuation was no longer possible as the decision allocating the proceeds of the sale to the creditors had become final and the creditors had been paid. 20.  In the meantime, on 28 December 2000, the Vienna Regional Civil Court resumed the proceedings concerning the applicant's appeal against the judicial sale. It dismissed the appeal, noting that under section 187 § 1 and section 184 § 1 (3) of the Enforcement Act only persons who had been present at the judicial sale or had erroneously not been summoned had a right to appeal within 14 days from the date of the auction. In contrast to the views expressed by legal writers, it was the Supreme Court's established case‑law that this time-limit was absolute and, therefore, also binding in a case like the present one where the debtor had not been capable of participating in the proceedings and had not been represented. Consequently, the sale of the applicant's apartment had become final and it was no longer possible to claim the nullity of the proceedings. The court therefore revised its decision of 23 June 2000 (see paragraph 17 above) finding that the question of the applicant's capacity to participate in the enforcement proceedings was not relevant. 21.  The applicant, represented by her guardian, requested the Vienna Regional Civil Court to allow an ordinary appeal with the Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof). She argued that section 187 § 1 of the Enforcement Act setting an absolute time-limit for the filing of an appeal against a decision of sale in a judicial auction was unconstitutional and amounted to discrimination against disabled persons not capable of participating in legal proceedings. Such individuals could not be treated like persons with legal capacity, who were able to defend their interests in underlying civil proceedings and could later appeal against a decision granting enforcement. In the present case, the interests of the applicant in declaring the sale of her apartment null and void had to prevail over the interests of the purchaser and the creditors. On the one hand, the applicant had become homeless, having lost her apartment, which had been sold far below its market price in order to satisfy relatively minor claims. On the other hand, annulling the judicial sale of the apartment would not have caused serious or irreparable damage to the creditors or the purchaser. 22.  By a decision of 12 January 2001 the Meidling District Court entered the purchaser of the applicant's apartment, the limited company H., as owner in the land register. 23.  On 24 April 2001 the Vienna Regional Civil Court refused to grant an ordinary appeal. Qualifying the applicant's submissions as an extraordinary appeal, it transferred them to the Supreme Court. 24.  On 30 January 2002 the Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof) rejected the applicant's extraordinary appeal. It noted that the Regional Court's decision was in line with its constant case-law. As to the question regarding the constitutionality of the absolute time-limit for the filing of appeals against a judicial sale, it referred to the necessary protection of the purchaser. 25.  By decision of 12 April 2002 the Vienna Regional Civil Court dismissed the applicant's further appeals against a number of decisions of the District Court, including the decision entering the purchaser of the apartment as owner in the land register (see paragraph 22 above), a decision granting another part of the surplus of the judicial sale to creditor A., and decisions fixing further costs of the enforcement proceedings. It noted that the applicant's arguments were restricted to the allegation that the judicial sale had not become final and that, therefore, all subsequent decisions were null and void. However, according to the Supreme Court's decision, the judicial sale had become final.


4.  The applicant was born in 1937 and currently lives in Leipzig, Germany. 5.  On 16 August 1996 the applicant's apartment in the city of Odessa, Ukraine, was sold by Mr O. (the applicant's nephew), who allegedly acted under a written authority issued by the applicant, to Mrs S. (a private person). The applicant continued to live in the flat until an unknown date in 1999, when he left Ukraine and took up residence in Germany. 6.  On an unspecified date the applicant filed a criminal complaint against Mr O., stating that he had stolen his passport and forged his signature on the written authority to sell the apartment. 7.  On 1 October 1996 an investigator of the Malinovsky District Police Station of Odessa (Малинівський районний відділ внутрішніх справ, hereafter “the Police Station”) instituted criminal proceedings against Mr O. for forgery and fraud. 8. On the same date Mrs S. sued the applicant before the Malinovsky District Court of Odessa (hereafter “the Malinovsky Court”) seeking his eviction from the apartment at issue. 9.  On 4 October 1996 the applicant filed with the Malinovsky Court a counterclaim against Mrs S. seeking to have the sales contract for the flat declared null and void for fraud. 10.  On 18 November 1996 an expert with the Criminalistic Expert Unit of the Odessa Police Department (Експертно-Криміналістичне Управління УМВС України в Одеській області, hereafter “the Expert Unit”), in the course of the criminal investigation against Mr O., issued an opinion in which he stated that the signature on the written authority had been executed by a person other than the applicant. 11.  On 22 November 1996 the Malinovsky Court requested from the Police Station a copy of the expert's report of 18 November 1996. 12.  On 17 January 1997 the Malinovsky Court held the first hearing, which was adjourned because of the failure of Mr O. (a witness in this case) failure to appear. 13.  On 6 February 1997 the Malinovsky Court requested the Odessa Institute of Forensic Expert Examinations (Одеський Науково-Дослідний Інститут Судових Експертиз, hereafter “the Institute”) to carry out an expert examination of the applicant's signature on the authority. 14.  On 23 April 1997 the applicant amended his statement of claim, adding a claim for compensation for non-pecuniary damage. 15.  On 8 May 1997 an expert with the Institute submitted her report, stating that there was a possibility that the authority had been signed by the applicant with a disguised handwriting. 16.  The hearing scheduled for 19 May 1997 was adjourned on account of Mrs S.'s lawyer failure to appear. 17.  On 21 May 1997 the applicant challenged the presiding judge before the President of the Malinovsky Court. On 25 May 1997 this challenge was accepted and another judge was appointed to hear the case. 18.  Of the eighteen hearings listed between 2 July 1997 and 29 December 1998 six were adjourned due to Mrs S. and her lawyer's failure to appear, and one due to the applicant's absence. On an unspecified date during this period the applicant's case was transmitted from the Malinovsky Court to the Illichevsky District Court of Odessa (hereafter “the Illichevsky Court). 19.  On 29 December 1998 the Illichevsky Court decided to suspend the proceedings pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings against Mr O. The applicant appealed against this decision. 20.  On 23 February 1999 the Odessa Regional Court (hereafter “the Regional Court”) found that the appeal had been lodged out of time and invited the Illichevsky Court to determine the admissibility of the applicant's appeal. 21.  On 3 March 1999 the Illichevsky Court granted the applicant leave to appeal out of time. 22.  On 23 March 1999 the Regional Court allowed the applicant's appeal, quashed the decision of 29 December 1998 and ordered a different judge of the Illichevsky Court to examine the merits of the case. 23.  On 6 April 1999 an expert of the Expert Unit, following an additional examination carried out as a part of the criminal investigation, found that the signature on the authority form had not been made by the applicant. 24.  The proceedings before the Illichevsky Court resumed on 4 June 1999. 25.  On 22 June 1999 the Illichevsky Court, following a request of Mrs S., ordered a further expert examination of the signature. 26.  On 12 August 1999 the Institute informed the Illichevsky Court that the examination could not be carried out as Mrs S. had failed to pay the expert's fee. 27.  The proceedings resumed on 21 December 1999, but were adjourned due to the applicant's and his lawyer's absence. As the applicant failed to appear for the hearings scheduled for 4 and 10 January 2000, on the latter date the Illichevsky Court dismissed his claims and, noting that Mrs S. had withdrawn her eviction action as by that time the applicant had moved out of the disputed flat (see paragraph 5 above), discontinued the proceedings. The applicant filed an appeal against this decision and asked for leave to appeal out of time. 28.  On 10 January 2000 the Illichevsky Court granted the applicant leave to appeal out of time. 29.  On 29 February 2000 the Regional Court allowed the applicant's appeal and ordered that the proceedings before the first instance court be continued. 30.  The proceedings resumed on 22 June 2000. The applicant asked the Illichevsky Court to hear his case in his absence. The court decided that the applicant's presence was indispensable for the determination of the case and adjourned the proceedings until 14 September 2000. 31.  Between 14 September and 17 November 2000 the Illichevsky Court fixed seven hearings, one of which was cancelled due to the applicant's lawyer's failure to appear. During this period the applicant's lawyer made four unsuccessful challenges to the impartiality of the presiding judge. 32.  On 17 November 2000 the Illichevsky Court, basing its reasoning principally on the expert's report of 8 May 1997, rejected the applicant's claim as unsubstantiated. The applicant appealed. 33.  On 13 March 2001 the Civil Division of the Regional Court (hereafter “the Civil Division”) granted the applicant's appeal and quashed the judgment of 17 November 2000, holding that the Illichevsky Court had failed to attach due weight to the evidence collected in the course of criminal investigation against Mr O. and had overestimated the importance of the expert's report of 8 May 1997. 34.  On 20 June 2001 the President of the Regional Court lodged a protest (an extraordinary appeal) with the Presidium of the Regional Court (hereafter “the Presidium”) against the ruling of 13 March 2001. He considered that the judgment of 17 November 2000 had been quashed by the Division unreasonably and that the first instance court had correctly established the relevant facts, and had given cogent reasons for its decision. 35.  The protest was examined on 27 June 2001 by the Presidium under the chairmanship of the President of the Regional Court. Having accepted the reasons set out in the protest, the Presidium quashed the ruling of 13 March 2001 and upheld the judgment of 17 November 2000, which became final and binding immediately. Neither the applicant nor his representative was invited to comment upon the protest or to participate in the hearing before the Presidium. 36.  On 20 August 2001 the decision of the Presidium, together with the case-file, was sent to the Illichevsky Court. 37.  On 13 August 2001 the applicant sent a letter to the Regional Court requesting it to account for the delay in the proceedings. On 28 August 2001 the Regional Court informed the applicant about its Presidium's decision and sent him a copy. 38.  On 19 September 2001 the applicant lodged an appeal against the decision of 27 June 2001 under the new cassation procedure. 39.  On 13 November 2001 the Supreme Court decided not to deal with the appeal because the applicant had failed to meet the relevant procedural requirements, namely clearly to specify which law he alleged to have been breached by the lower courts and in what way. 40.  On 25 January 2002 the Illichevsky Court adjourned consideration of the applicant's cassation appeal and suggested that he remedy its shortcomings by 11 February 2002. 41.  On 18 February 2002 the Illichevsky Court dismissed the applicant's cassation appeal because he had failed to comply with the relevant procedural requirements. 42.  The outcome of the criminal proceedings against Mr O. is unknown.


4.  The applicant was born in 1961 and lives in Rostov-on-Don. 5.  On an unspecified date he sued his former wife for title to a half of the flat which they had allegedly purchased while they were married. The matter was repeatedly reviewed by courts at two levels of jurisdiction. 6.  On 20 February 2001 the Leninskiy District Court of Rostov-on-Don dismissed the applicant's claim. 7.  On 11 May 2001 the Rostov Regional Court quashed the judgment of 20 February 2001 on appeal and remitted the matter for further consideration. 8.  On 8 August 2001 the District Court granted the applicant's claim in full. 9.  On 19 September 2001 the Rostov Regional Court upheld the judgment of 8 August 2001 on appeal. 10.  On 2 October 2002 the applicant's former wife asked the President of the Rostov Regional Court to lodge an application for supervisory review of the judgment of 8 August 2001 as upheld on 19 September 2001. 11.  On 24 December 2002 the acting President of the Rostov Regional Court granted the request and sent the case to the Presidium of the Rostov Regional Court for supervisory review. 12.  On 26 December 2002 the Presidium of the Rostov Regional Court reassessed the evidence and quashed the judgments of 11 May, 8 August and 19 September 2001 by way of supervisory review and reinstated the judgment of 20 February 2001. It considered that the applicant had failed to provide enough evidence to substantiate his title to the disputed property.