HER Judgment (Merits and just satisfaction) Violation of Art. 2; No violation of Art. 6-1; No violation of Art. 14; No violation of Art. 13; Failure to comply with obligations under Article 34
The deceased died during a riot in Northern Ireland. He was under a hoarding run over by an armoured vehicle. Six years later an inquest had still not been held, civil proceedings remained pending, and an investigation by the Royal Ulster Constabulary found no basis for action.
Held: The Convention required by implication that there should be some form of effective official investigation when individuals have been killed as a result of the use of force. The failure to hold a proper inquiry into the death, was an infringement of the right to life under the Convention. The police officers investigating the incident were not independent of the officers implicated in the incident. There was however, no evidence which would entitle a conclusion that any deaths caused by the security services involved the unlawful or excessive use of force by members of the security forces, save where convictions had followed. The police had also in this case improperly put pressure on the applicant’s legal representatives with regard to evidence to be put before the court.
Judges:
M Pellonpaa, President, and Judges Sir Nicolas Bratza, A. Pastor Ridruejo, J. Makarczyk, V. Straznicka, R. Maruste and S. Pavlovschi Section Registrar M. O’Boyle
Citations:
Times 03-Jun-2002, 43290/98, [2002] ECHR 465, [2002] ECHR 469, (2002) 35 EHRR 593
Links:
Statutes:
European Convention on Human Rights 2 34
Jurisdiction:
Human Rights
Cited by:
Cited – Gentle, Regina (on the Application of) and Another v The Prime Minister and Another HL 9-Apr-2008
The appellants were mothers of two servicemen who had died whilst on active service in Iraq. They appealed refusal to grant a public inquiry. There had already been coroners inquests. They said that Article 2 had been infringed.
Held: The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Human Rights, Coroners
Updated: 06 June 2022; Ref: scu.172160