CASE OF KUZMIN v. RUSSIA
Violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Enforcement proceedings;Article 6-1 - Access to court);Violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Protection of property (Article 1 para. 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Peaceful enjoyment of possessions);Violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Civil proceedings;Article 6-1 - Access to court);Violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Protection of property (Article 1 para. 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Peaceful enjoyment of possessions)
Erik Møse;Julia Laffranque;Khanlar Hajiyev
4. The applicant was born in 1937 and lives in Novocherkassk, the Rostov Region. He is a retired military serviceman. 5. On 25 March 2003 the Justice of the Peace of the 2nd Court Circuit of Novocherkassk ordered the recovery of the applicant’s pension arrears for the period 1 January 1995 to 31 January 2003 and for the amount owed to be adjusted in line with the rate of inflation. The Justice of the Peace awarded him 40,356.67 Russian roubles (RUB), to be paid by the Military Commissariat of the Rostov Region (“the respondent authority”). The judgment was enforced. 6. The applicant brought a second claim against the respondent authority seeking a further adjustment to his pension as calculated by the judgment of 25 March 2003, because of an increase to the minimum wage. His claim was backdated to include the period 1995 to 1998. 7. By a judgment of 15 September 2004 the Novocherkassk Town Court allowed the claim. The court observed, in particular, that the amount awarded on 25 March 2003 had been adjusted to take into account the rise in inflation, but not the increase to the minimum wage for the specified period. The court awarded the applicant RUB 265,594.27, to be paid by the respondent authority, and ordered that the judgment be executed immediately. Representatives of the respondent authority were present at court. 8. On 12 October 2004 the applicant’s representative sent a copy of the judgment and a writ of execution to the respondent authority. According to its incoming correspondence log (item no. 11734), the documents were registered as having been received. 9. On an unspecified date the respondent authority lodged a statement of appeal with the Town Court. It appears that on 9 November 2004 (the exact date is unclear) the Novocherkassk Town Court refused to examine the application because the authority had failed to pay the court fee. 10. On 11 November 2004 the respondent authority withdrew its statement of appeal. 11. On 24 November 2004 the respondent authority requested a reexamination of the case in the light of newly discovered circumstances. On 10 February 2005 the Novocherkassk Town Court dismissed the application. 12. In September 2005 the respondent authority applied for the case be re-examined by way of supervisory review. 13. On 29 December 2005 the Presidium of the Rostov Regional Court quashed the judgment of 15 September 2004 by way of supervisory review and transferred the case for fresh examination by a different court. The Presidium concluded that the first-instance court had erroneously applied the substantive law and had failed to verify whether the same claim had already been examined by the Justice of the Peace on 25 March 2003. It also found that the Novocherkassk Town Court had lacked territorial jurisdiction to hear the case. The Presidium noted that judgment had been awarded against the respondent authority and that the case should have been examined by a court in the district where the respondent authority was located. 14. The applicant did not attend the hearing and received a copy of the judgment on 17 February 2006. 15. On 17 March 2006 the Oktyabrskiy District Court of Rostov examined the applicant’s claim against the respondent authority and rejected it as having no basis in law. No further appeal was brought.