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European Court of Human Rights
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> European Court of Human Rights >> ENGEL AND OTHERS v. THE NETHERLANDS (ARTICLE 50) - 5100/71;5101/71;5102/71;... [1976] ECHR 4 (23 November 1976)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/1976/4.html
Cite as: (1979) 1 EHRR 706, [1976] ECHR 4
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In the case of Engel and others,
The European Court of Human Rights, taking its decision in plenary
session in application of Rule 48 of the Rules of Court and composed
of the following Judges:
MM. H. MOSLER, President,
A. VERDROSS,
M. ZEKIA,
J. CREMONA,
G. WIARDA,
P. O'DONOGHUE,
Mrs. H. PEDERSEN,
MM. T. VILHJÁLMSSON,
S. PETREN,
A. BOZER,
W. GANSHOF VAN DER MEERSCH,
Mrs. D. BINDSCHEDLER-ROBERT,
M. D. EVRIGENIS,
and also Mr. M.-A. EISSEN, Registrar, and Mr. H. PETZOLD,
Deputy Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 1 and 2 November 1976,
Delivers the following judgment, adopted on the last-mentioned date,
on the application in the present case of Article 50 (art. 50) of the
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
(hereinafter referred to as "the Convention"):
PROCEDURE
1. The case of Engel and others was referred to the Court by the
European Commission of Human Rights (hereinafter referred to as "the
Commission") on 8 October 1974 and then by the Government of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands (hereinafter referred to as "the
Government") on 17 December of the same year. The case originated in
five applications against the Netherlands which were lodged with the
Commission in 1971 by Cornelis J.M. Engel, Peter van der Wiel,
Gerrit Jan de Wit, Johannes C. Dona and Willem A.C. Schul, all
Netherlands nationals. They complained about various disciplinary
penalties and measures imposed on them when they were carrying out
their compulsory military service.
2. On 8 June 1976 the Court, while rejecting the applicants' other
complaints, found
- that the whole period of Mr. Engel's provisional strict arrest from
20 to 22 March 1971 had violated Article 5 para. 1 (art. 5-1) of the
Convention since no justification for it was to be found in any
sub-paragraph of this provision (item 4 of the operative provisions
and paragraph 69 of the reasons, Series A no. 22, pp. 45 and 28-29);
- that apart from that it had infringed Article 5 para. 1 (art. 5-1)
insofar as it had exceeded the period of twenty-four hours stipulated
by Article 45 of the Netherlands Military Discipline Act of
27 April 1903 (item 5 of the operative provisions and paragraph 69 of
the reasons, ibid., pp. 45 and 29);
- that there had been a breach of the requirements of Article 6 para. 1
(art. 6-1) in the case of Mr. de Wit, Mr. Dona and Mr. Schul insofar
as the hearings before the Netherlands Supreme Military Court had
taken place in camera (item 11 of the operative provisions and
paragraph 89 of the reasons, ibid., pp. 45 and 37).
In addition the Court reserved the whole of the question of the
application of Article 50 (art. 50) of the Convention as it arose for
those four applicants. It invited the Commission's delegates to
present in writing, within one month from the delivery of the
judgment, their observations on the said question and decided that the
Government should have the right to reply thereto in writing within a
month of the Registrar's communication of those observations to the
Government. It reserved the further procedure to be followed on that
aspect of the case (items 21 and 22 of the operative provisions and
paragraphs 109-111 of the reasons, ibid., pp. 46 and 43-44).
3. The observations of the Commission's delegates and of the
Government were received at the Registry on 8 July and 6 August 1976
respectively. The former were accompanied by a letter that
Mr. van der Schans, the lawyer of Mr. Engel, Mr. de Wit,
Mr. Dona and Mr. Schul, had sent on 17 June to the Secretary of the
Commission.
4. After consulting, through the Registrar, the Commission's
delegates and the Agent of the Government, the Court thinks that it is
not appropriate either to prolong the written procedure or to envisage
hearings in the presence of the parties; it considers itself in a
position to give a decision forthwith.
AS TO THE FACTS
5. The only question remaining to be settled is that of the
application of Article 50 (art. 50) in the present case. Thus, as
regards the facts, the Court can refer for the main points to
paragraphs 12 to 53 of its judgment of 8 June 1976 (ibid., pp. 6-23),
confining itself here to giving some brief details.
6. Mr. Engel, Mr. de Wit, Mr. Dona and Mr. Schul do not allege that
they have suffered any material damage, loss of income, legal expenses
or other disbursements, but each of them claims a "purely symbolic"
sum of one thousand French francs (1,000 FF), presumably for moral
damage.
7. The Commission's delegates think that financial compensation "is
due to Mr. Engel for the breach of Article 5 para. 1 (art. 5-1) as such";
they "suggest to the Court that it should follow in this respect the
method of calculation adopted in the Ringeisen case" (judgment of
22 June 1972, Series A no. 15). On the other hand, the breach of
Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1) is said to have caused Mr. de Wit, Mr. Dona
and Mr. Schul no "special damage", with the result that "the decision
referred to in item 11" of the operative provisions of the judgment of
8 June 1976 would for these applications amount, "in itself", to "just
satisfaction within the meaning of Article 50 (art. 50)".
8. The Government ask the Court to "fix the compensation, if any, on
a purely symbolic sum" in the case of Mr. Engel. They agree with the
delegates as regards Mr. de Wit, Mr. Dona and Mr. Schul.
AS TO THE LAW
9. As appears from paragraph 6 above, the Court's task here is solely
to examine, within the limits set by items 21 and 22 of the operative
provisions of the judgment of 8 June 1976, whether there are grounds
for granting just satisfaction for moral damage.
10. Mr. Engel was deprived of his liberty in conditions at variance
with Article 5 para. 1 (art. 5-1) of the Convention and furthermore
incompatible, to the extent of between twenty-two and thirty hours
(judgment of 8 June 1976, Series A no. 22, p. 29, para. 69, sixth
sub-paragraph), with Article 45 of the above-mentioned Act of
27 April 1903. During this period he encountered the disagreeable
effects of the régime of strict arrest. He thus suffered moral
damage.
In evaluating this damage, the Court cannot overlook the brevity of
Mr. Engel's detention. Moreover, he was to a large extent
compensated for the damage. In fact, after having been found guilty
of the disciplinary offence which had led to his arrest on
20 March 1971, he did not have to serve the two days' strict arrest
awarded shortly afterwards for that offence (ibid., pp. 15-16, paras. 34
in fine, 35 and 36). On 5 April 1971, his provisional arrest was set
off against this penalty by a decision of the complaints officer which
the Supreme Military Court confirmed on 23 June 1971 (ibid.,
pp. 15-16, paras. 35 in fine and 36). Whilst this does not constitute
restitutio in integrum, it is nevertheless relevant in the context of
Article 50 (art. 50) (Ringeisen judgment of 22 June 1972, Series A
no. 15, p. 8, para. 21, and p. 10, para. 26; Neumeister judgment of
7 May 1974, Series A no. 17, pp. 18-19, paras. 40-41; Engel and others
judgment of 8 June 1976, Series A no. 22, p. 29, para. 69).
Taking these various factors into account, the Court considers that
Mr. Engel, in addition to the satisfaction resulting from items 4 and
5 of the operative provisions of the judgment of 8 June 1976, should
be afforded a token indemnity of one hundred Dutch guilders
(Hfl. 100).
11. The case of Mr. de Wit, Mr. Dona and Mr. Schul is different.
The only violation of which they were victims arose from the fact that
the Supreme Military Court heard their case in camera (Article 6 para. 1
of the Convention) (art. 6-1); it has already been pointed out in the
judgment of 8 June 1976 that they "do not seem to have suffered on
that account" and that "indeed the said Court improved the lot of two
of their number, namely Mr. Schul and, to an even greater extent,
Mr. de Wit" (Series A no. 22, p. 37, para. 89, as amplified on pp. 17-18,
para. 41, and p. 20, para. 49).
Since then, these three applicants have not put forward any argument
capable of disturbing this provisional conclusion. Admittedly, their
lawyer, in his letter of 17 June 1976 (paragraph 3 above), expresses
the opinion that "as for Mr. Schul and Mr. Dona ... a comparison could
be made between the [respective] outcome of the disciplinary
proceedings instituted against them" and of criminal proceedings,
taken against other servicemen for offences of the same kind, which he
mentioned in his address to the Court on 28 October 1975. He claimed
that the criminal proceedings generally resulted, after a public
hearing, in the imposition solely of a fine of between one hundred and
two hundred and fifty guilders, a penalty that was "far more
favourable" than the sentence passed on Mr. Dona and Mr. Schul in the
context of the disciplinary proceedings.
The Court cannot accept this proposition. It ruled in its judgment of
8 June 1976 that the Convention did not compel the competent
Netherlands authorities to prosecute Mr. Dona and Mr. Schul - or
Mr. de Wit - "under the Military Penal Code before a court martial"
(Series A no. 22, p. 36, para. 85 in fine). Consequently, the comparison
made by the applicants' lawyer provides no argument relevant to
Article 50 (art. 50). Above all, there is nothing to show the
existence of any kind of causal link between the fact that the
hearings before the Supreme Military Court were not public and the
severity of the punishment inflicted on Mr. Dona and Mr. Schul.
Accordingly, the Court, like the Commission and the Government,
considers that item 11 of the operative provisions of its judgment of
8 June 1976 amounts for Mr. de Wit, Mr. Dona and Mr. Schul to
adequate just satisfaction under Article 50 (art. 50).
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT
1. Holds unanimously that the Kingdom of the Netherlands is to pay to
Mr. Cornelis J.M. Engel the sum of one hundred Dutch guilders;
2. Holds unanimously that item 11 of the operative provisions of its
judgment of 8 June 1976 amounts for Mr. Gerrit Jan de Wit,
Mr. Johannes C. Dona and Mr. Willem A.C. Schul to adequate just
satisfaction under Article 50 (art. 50).
Done in French and English, the French text being authentic, at the
Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, this twenty-third day of November,
one thousand nine hundred and seventy-six.
Signed: Hermann MOSLER
President
Signed: Marc-André EISSEN
Registrar
In addition to a declaration by Judges Cremona, O'Donoghue, Pedersen,
Thór Vilhjálmsson and Evrigenis, the separate opinions of the
following Judges are annexed to the present judgment (Article 51 para. 2
of the Convention and Rule 50 para. 2 of the Rules of Court) (art. 51-2):
- Mr. Ganshof van der Meersch and Mr. Evrigenis;
- Mrs. Bindschedler-Robert.
Initialled: H.M.
Initialled: M.-A.E.
DECLARATION BY JUDGES CREMONA, O'DONOGHUE, PEDERSEN, THÓR VILHJÁLMSSON
AND EVRIGENIS
In separate opinions annexed to the Court's judgment of 8 June 1976 we
have expressed different points of view not accepted by the majority
of the Court.
After that judgment and for the purposes of the present one we feel
bound to accept the findings of the majority of the Court, and we have
therefore proceeded on this basis.
SEPARATE OPINION OF JUDGES GANSHOF VAN DER MEERSCH AND EVRIGENIS
(Translation)
Since we are of the view that Mr. de Wit, Mr. Dona and Mr. Schul
should not be afforded "just satisfaction" within the meaning of
Article 50 (art. 50) of the Convention, we have voted for item 2 of
the operative provisions of the judgment. Nevertheless, we have some
difficulty in concurring with the reasoning by which the Court arrived
at that result. Our reasons are as follows:
According to Article 50 (art. 50) of the Convention, the Court shall
afford, on the conditions laid down in that provision, "just
satisfaction" to the injured party if it finds a breach of the
Convention. It seems difficult to accept the proposition that the
finding by the Court of a breach of the substantive provisions of the
Convention, whilst constituting a condition for the application of
Article 50 (art. 50), can at the same time be the consequence in law
following from that same provision.
SEPARATE OPINION OF JUDGE BINDSCHEDLER-ROBERT
(Translation)
The view, expressed in my separate opinion, that the reckoning of
detention on remand as part of the sentence had amounted to complete
redress expunging the responsibility of the State was based on the
premise that the breach had consisted solely of the prolongation of
the detention on remand beyond the period of twenty-four hours allowed
by Netherlands law. The Court has held that the detention on remand
was unlawful on two grounds and amounted in its entirety to a breach
of the Convention. Accordingly, viewing the matter in this other way
and also bearing in mind the point of time at which the detention
occurred (a few days before the examinations that Mr. Engel had to
take), I readily concede that the reckoning did not amount to full
redress and that, in addition to the finding of the violation of the
Convention of which he was victim, Mr. Engel should therefore be
afforded an indemnity by way of satisfaction for the moral damage
suffered.