Sargin and Others v. Turkey

SECOND SECTION

Application no. 20236/06 Müge SARGIN and others against Turkey

The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 28 January 2014 as a Committee composed of:

Dragoljub Popović, President, Paulo Pinto de Albuquerque, Helen Keller, judges, and Stephen Phillips, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 29 April 2006,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

A list of the applicants is set out in the appendix. They are represented by Mr M. S. Tanrıkulu, a lawyer practising in Diyarbakır.

The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.

A. The circumstances of the case

The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.

In 1976 the applicants brought proceedings, requesting the annulment of a cadastral survey which stated that certain land should be registered in the Treasury’s name as it was neither occupied nor owned by private persons. On 27 May 2000 the Bodrum Cadastral Court dismissed the applicants’ case and held that the land should be registered in the Treasury’s name. On 15 July 2002 the Court of Cassation upheld this judgment. On 17 October 2005 the Court of Cassation rejected the request for rectification. On 31 October 2005 the final decision was deposited with the registry of the first-instance court.

B. Relevant domestic law

A description of the relevant domestic law may be found in Müdür Turgut and Others ((dec.), no. 4860/09, §§ 19-26, 26 March 2013 ).

COMPLAINTS

The applicants complain under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention that the proceedings before the national court were not concluded within a reasonable time.

The applicants allege violation of Article 13 of the Convention that there was no effective remedy under Turkish law.

They maintain under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention that their right to the peaceful enjoyment of property was violated by the excessive length of the proceedings.

THE LAW

I. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF THE LENGTH OF THE PROCEEDINGS

The applicants complained that the length of the proceedings had been incompatible with the principle of the “reasonable time” requirement, laid down in Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, which reads as follows:

“In the determination of his civil rights and obligations ... everyone is entitled to a ... hearing within a reasonable time by a ... tribunal...”

The Court observes that a new domestic remedy has been established in Turkey after the application of the pilot judgment procedure in the case of Ümmühan Kaplan v. Turkey (no. 24240/07, 20 March 2012). The Court recalls that in its decision in the case of Turgut and others v. Turkey (no. 4860/09, 26 March 2013), it declared a new application inadmissible on the ground that the applicants had failed to exhaust the domestic remedies as a new domestic remedy had been envisaged. In so doing, the Court in particular considered that this new remedy was, a priori , accessible and capable of offering a reasonable prospect of redress for complaints concerning the length of proceedings.

The Court further recalls that in its judgment in the case of Ümmühan Kaplan v. Turkey (cited above, § 77) it stressed that it could pursue the examination of applications of this type which were already communicated to the Government.

The Government requested the Court to declare this application inadmissible for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies, considering Law no. 6384 which provides for a remedy capable of redressing the Convention grievances of persons who complain about the length of proceedings. The applicants contested the Government’s argument.

In the light of the case of Müdür Turgut and Others, cited above, there are no exceptional circumstances capable of exempting the present applicant from the obligation to exhaust domestic remedies. Accordingly, the applicants should avail themselves of the new remedy offered by Law no. 6384.

It follows that this complaint must be rejected under Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies.

II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 13 OF THE CONVENTION

The applicants also complain that there was no effective remedy under Turkish law. They rely in this regard Article 13 of the Convention, which provides:

“Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in this Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.”

The Court recalls that it has also held that the Compensation Commission established by Law no. 6384 provides to the applicants for a remedy within the meaning of Article 13 of the Convention to complain about the length of proceedings to purposes of Article 6 § 1 relating to all applications pending before the Court, but not yet communicated to the respondent Government before 23 September 2012 ( Müdür Turgut and Others, cited above, § 59).

It follows that this part of the application is manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.

III. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 1 OF PROTOCOL NO. 1 OF THE CONVENTION

The applicants further complained that the length of the proceedings complained of had infringed their right to the peaceful enjoyment of their possessions, as guaranteed by Article 1 of Protocol No. 1. Having carefully examined the applicants’ complaints in the light of all the material in its possession, and in so far as the matter complained of is within its competence, the Court finds that it does not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms set out in the Convention or its Protocols.

It follows that these parts of the applications are manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Declares the application inadmissible.

Stephen Phillips Dragoljub Popović Acting Deputy Registrar President

Appendix

N o .

Applicant

Place of residence

Representative

Müge SARGIN

Ankara

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Necmi CAVLI

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Şöhret AKGÖNEN

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Yüksel SEZEN

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Ali SEZEN

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Mensure BOZKURT

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Pakize TÜRKÖZ

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Salime ŞENGÜL

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Ramazan İNECİ

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Hevse İNECİ

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Fatma YILMAZ

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Halime İNECİ

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Hasan İNECİ

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Zübeyde MENGÜÇ

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

O. Necmi CAVLI

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Ülke SAVAŞ

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Kamuran ÖNCEL

İzmir

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Ahter Gönül CAĞLAR

İzmir

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Mehmet ÖLMEZ

Istanbul

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Ali Vasfi TOKER

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Naciye TOKER

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Mustafa Çetin TOKER

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Mehmet TOKER

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

İbrahim TOKER

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Pembe TOKER

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Güzide ÇIRAKOĞLU

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Güzin ERBİL

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Mediha CEYLAN

İzmir

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

İkbal TOKER

Aydın

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Hatice TOKER

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Hasan TOKER

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Yaşar TOKER

Ankara

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Nevse TOKER

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Fatma ERCAN

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Ali TOKER

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Tan KAYA

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Sevil KURTER

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Nermin TOPRAKLI

Bursa

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Belgin GÜLER

İzmir

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Aydoğdu TOKER

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Süheyla KASAL

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Sevgi TİTİZ

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Sevil ULUBAY

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Ahmet TOKER

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Gülgün ERENLER

İzmir

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Melahat ÖZÇERİ

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Semahat İNECİ

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU

Fevzi AKIN

Muğla

Mustafa Sezgin TANRIKULU