SECOND SECTION
CASE OF DOO BROJLER DONJE SINKOVCE v. SERBIA
(Application no. 48499/08)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of DOO Brojler Donje Sinkovce v. Serbia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting as a committee composed of:
Paulo Pinto de Albuquerque,
President,
Dragoljub Popović,
Helen Keller, judges,
and Seçkin Erel, Acting Deputy Section
Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 5 November 2013,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
THE FACTS
I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE
A. The civil proceedings and ensuing enforcement proceedings
B. The insolvency proceedings
C. The Constitutional Court proceedings
D. The status of the debtor
II. RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW
A. The Enforcement Procedure Act 2004 (Zakon o izvršnom postupku; published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia - OG RS - no. 125/04)
B. The Enforcement Procedure Act 2011 (Zakon o izvršenju i obezbeđenju; published in the OG RS nos. 31/2011 and 99/2011)
C. The Insolvency Act 2004 (Zakon o stečajnom postupku, published in the OG RS nos. 84/04 and 85/05)
D. The Insolvency Act 2009 (Zakon o stečajnom postupku, published in the OG RS nos. 104/2009, 99/2011 and 71/2012)
E. Other relevant domestic law
THE LAW
I. ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF ARTICLE 6 AND ARTICLE 1 OF PROTOCOL NO. 1
Article 6 § 1
“In the determination of his civil rights and obligations ... everyone is entitled to a fair ... hearing ... by [a] ... tribunal ...”
Article 1 of Protocol No. 1
“Every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions. ...”
A. Admissibility
1. Compatibility ratione personae (responsibility of the State)
2. Compatibility ratione personae (the applicant company’s “victim status”)
3. Exhaustion of domestic remedies
4. Conclusion
B. Merits
II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 13 OF THE CONVENTION
“Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in [the] 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.”
A. Admissibility
B. Merits
III. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
“If the Court finds that there has been a violation of the Convention or the Protocols thereto, and if the internal law of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only partial reparation to be made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured party.”
A. Damage
1. Pecuniary Damage
2. Non-pecuniary damage
B. Costs and expenses
C. Default interest
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT UNANIMOUSLY
1. Declares the application admissible;
2. Holds that there has been a violation of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention;
3. Holds that there has been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1;
4. Holds that there has been a violation of Article 13 of the Convention in conjunction with Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1;
5. Holds
(a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicant company, within three months, the sums awarded in the final judgment of the Commercial Court of 25 April 2005, plus the statutory interest awarded by the Municipal Court enforcement order of 19 January 2006, less any and all related payments received by the latter in the meantime;
(b) that the respondent State is also, within the same period, to pay EUR 3,900 (three thousand nine hundred euros), to be converted into the national currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement, plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of the costs and expenses incurred;
(c) that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points;
7. Dismisses the remainder of the applicant company’s claim for just satisfaction.
Done in English, and notified in writing on 26 November 2013, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Seçkin Erel Paulo
Pinto de Albuquerque
Acting Deputy Registrar President
[1] The amounts in Euro are given for reference only, based on an approximate average value at the relevant time.