A nightwatchman at a mining site, the claimant’s son, was killed one morning by Turkish security forces when he was coming off duty. The Government said that the scene of the incident had been used as a shelter by terrorists. The applicant claimed that he had been shot dead by the security forces without warning. The court considered the right of the next of kin to have access to a police investigation file into their relative’s death.
Held: The obligation to protect the right to life under Article 2 of the Convention required that there should be some form of effective official investigation when individuals have been killed as a result of the use of force. No such investigation had been conducted in this case: ‘It must be noted, lastly, that during the administrative investigation the case file was inaccessible to the victim’s close relatives, who had no means of learning what was in it (see paragraph 15 above). The Supreme Administrative Court ruled on the decision of 15 August 1991 on the sole basis of the papers in the case, and this part of the proceedings was likewise inaccessible to the victim’s relatives. Nor was the decision of 15 August 1991 served on the applicant’s lawyer, with the result that the applicant was deprived of the possibility of herself appealing to the Supreme Administrative Court.’
[1999] ECHR 30, 21594/93
Worldlii, Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights
Human Rights
Cited by:
Cited – A, Re Application for Judicial Review QBNI 25-Jun-2001
The applicant, who feared for his life if identified, sought the release to him of materials discovered by the police in searching premises associated with a loyalist paramiliitary group. He thought that they might include information sourced form . .
Cited – Regina (on the Application of Mazin Mumaa Galteh Al-Skeini and Others) v The Secretary of State for Defence CA 21-Dec-2005
The claimants were dependants of Iraqi nationals killed in Iraq.
Held: The Military Police were operating when Britain was an occupying power. The question in each case was whether the Human Rights Act applied to the acts of the defendant. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 15 August 2021; Ref: scu.165712