CASE OF A.N. v. LITHUANIA
Preliminary objection joined to merits and dismissed (Article 35-1 - Exhaustion of domestic remedies);Remainder inadmissible;Violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Civil proceedings;Article 6-1 - Access to court;Civil rights and obligations;Fair hearing;Adversarial trial);Violation of Article 8 - Right to respect for private and family life (Article 8-1 - Respect for private life);Non-pecuniary damage - finding of violation sufficient (Article 41 - Non-pecuniary damage;Just satisfaction)
András Sajó;Egidijus Kūris;Iulia Motoc;Nona Tsotsoria;Paulo Pinto De Albuquerque;Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer
5. The applicant was born in 1971 and lives in Naujoji Akmenė. 6. In November 1989 he started military service in the armed forces of the Soviet Union. Medical records dated 20 June 1990 drafted by a panel of doctors in his military unit in Riazan (Russia), stipulated that at that time he had problems communicating with others and was autistic, though he had a normal memory and level of intelligence. He was diagnosed with sluggish schizophrenia, which he had developed during military service. On those grounds, he was released from military service. 7. Having returned from the army to Lithuania, by 2005 he had been treated in psychiatric institutions no less than fifteen times. In 2004 he was diagnosed with residual and then paranoid schizophrenia. 8. In February 2006 the applicant attempted suicide by setting himself on fire. He was admitted to the trauma unit of a hospital. 9. In reply to a prosecutor’s request for information, on 14 November 2006 the Akmenė District Psychiatric Health Centre (Akmenės rajono psichikos sveikatos centras) confirmed that the applicant had been attending there since 1999, and continued to be treated there for schizophrenia. In 2004 episodes of the applicant’s illness became more frequent. That year the applicant attempted to commit suicide; he did not accept that he was ill. He was admitted to the Šiauliai Psychiatric Hospital (Šiaulių psichiatrijos ligoninė), where he spent about a month before being released for outpatient care at his own request. Since July 2005 the applicant stopped attending the Akmenė District Psychiatric Health Centre and taking his medication, because he firmly refused any consultations with the psychiatrists. He would also submit numerous complaints to various authorities. 10. On 24 November 2006 the applicant’s mother asked a prosecutor to initiate proceedings with a view to her son being declared legally incapacitated. According to her, his mental illness started when he was in the Soviet army. She and her husband lived in a house separate from him in neighbouring Akmenė. By 2006 the applicant’s condition reached such a stage that he was afraid to leave his apartment or let his parents in, and he did not take care of himself. He even attempted to take his own life by setting himself on fire. 11. On the same day, the prosecutor sent the request by the applicant’s mother to the Akmenė District Court, together with an extract from the applicant’s medical records. It was noted that his schizophrenia had worsened and that he had become a danger to himself. He was thus in need of help from others. It was indispensable to ascertain whether there was a basis for declaring him legally incapable, if psychiatrists established that he could not understand or control his actions. The prosecutor relied on Articles 2.10, 3.242 § 1 and 3 of the Civil Code, Articles 135, 462-465, 491493 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and Article 19 of the Law on Prosecution Service. 12. By a ruling of 29 November 2006 the Akmenė District Court ordered an expert examination to ascertain (i) whether the applicant was suffering from mental illness, (ii) whether he could understand his actions and (iii) whether he could take part in court proceedings. His mother was to be informed of that decision. 13. Having examined the applicant in person and scrutinised his medical records, on 8 January 2007 a psychiatrist concluded that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. He was also very mistrusting and had strong feelings of persecution. Psychiatrists took into account the letters by his mother to the Akmenė District Psychiatric Health Centre and the prosecutor to the effect that the applicant did not take care of his daily needs, and had social and health issues and suicidal thoughts. The psychiatrist thus established that the applicant could not correctly understand or control his actions, and noted that he “could not take part in court proceedings, could not be questioned, and court documents could not be served on him”. 14. In a one page form sent to the Akmenė District Court on 29 January 2007, Akmenė District social services ticked a box to say that they “agreed” with the prosecutor’s request for the applicant to be declared incapacitated. They also indicated that they would not take part in the court hearing, which was scheduled for 31 January 2007. 15. On 23, 24, 25 and 30 January 2007 attempts were made by the Akmenė District Court to personally serve the applicant with the summons concerning the forthcoming hearing for his legal incapacitation and care. The copy of the summons indicated that it had not been served because, according to his next door neighbour, the applicant was mentally ill and opened the door to no one. 16. At a public hearing on 31 January 2007 the Akmenė District Court, relying on Articles 465-468 of the Code of Civil Procedure, granted the prosecutor’s request for the applicant to be declared incapacitated, on the grounds that he could not understand or control his actions. The prosecutor and the applicant’s mother were in attendance. The applicant’s mother testified about her son’s history of mental illness. She also stated that he had recently been living away from his parents, but could not take care of himself, did not pay maintenance fees for his apartment, and would not go out or take his medication. The ruling stipulated that it could be appealed against within thirty days. 17. The Government submitted that, given the fact that it had not actually been possible to serve the summons on the applicant, the decision of 31 January 2007 had only been sent to the interested parties in the case, that is to say the applicant’s mother, the prosecutor and social services. 18. On 5 February 2007 the applicant drafted what appears to be a response to the prosecutor’s request of 24 November 2006 to incapacitate him. Therein he mentions that he received a copy of the prosecutor’s request on 30 January 2007. The letter appears essentially to be a complaint about his treatment in psychiatric hospitals and diagnosis with schizophrenia. He concludes by stating that because of obvious forgery of his medical examination results and clear bias on the part of the prosecutor, the applicant refused to undergo medical examination in Lithuania. A stamp on the letter indicates that it was received by the Akmenė District Court on 5 February 2007. 19. Having established that the applicant was legally incapacitated, by a ruling of 6 March 2007 the Akmenė District Court appointed the applicant’s mother as his guardian and the administrator of his property. The decision was taken at a public hearing in which she, a prosecutor and a representative from social services took part. The ruling stipulated that the applicant had not taken part because of ill-health. 20. The applicant was forcibly admitted to the Šiauliai Psychiatric Hospital on 9 March 2007, after showing signs of agitation and behaving aggressively towards his parents. The police and some firemen had to break down the door of his apartment to get to him. On 11 March 2007 he consented to treatment until 13 March 2007, when he refused any further treatment in writing. 21. On 13 March 2007 the Šiauliai Psychiatric Hospital asked the State Guaranteed Legal Aid Service (“the Legal Aid Service”) to provide legal aid to the applicant, who was to be forcibly hospitalised. It was granted the same day, and a lawyer was appointed to represent him. Later that day, in the presence of a psychiatrist and the appointed lawyer, the Šiauliai District Court granted a request by the psychiatric hospital for the applicant to be forcibly hospitalised. The court noted that the applicant was absolutely uncritical of his own behaviour, and that his state of mind at that time meant that he posed a danger to himself and others. The ruling was final and not appealable. It indicated that on 31 January 2007 the applicant had been declared legally incapacitated, and that on 6 March 2007 his mother had been appointed as his guardian. 22. The Government submitted to the court an extract from the applicant’s medical records, which indicated that he had been at the Šiauliai Psychiatric Hospital from 9 March until 22 June 2007. The doctor indicated in that record that a copy of the court ruling of 13 March 2007 had been given to the applicant. It is not clear when that was done. The Government submitted that the court decision of 13 March 2007 had been handed to the applicant by his treating doctor on 15 March 2007. 23. On 6 April 2007 the applicant signed a document certifying that his treatment plan from the Šiauliai Psychiatric Hospital had been explained to him and that he agreed to follow it. 24. Having been released from the psychiatric hospital, on 26 November 2008 the applicant approached the Legal Aid Service. In his application he wrote that by a ruling of 31 January 2007 he had been declared legally incapacitated, and that he would need the time-limit for appealing against it to be renewed. He also indicated that in March 2007 his mother had been appointed his guardian and the administrator of his property. He noted that he had not known about the two decisions until 9 March 2007, upon his admission to the Šiauliai Psychiatric Hospital. He also expressed a wish to appeal against them. 25. On 31 December 2008 the Legal Aid Service refused the request as having no prospect of success. It noted that the applicant fell into the category of people entitled to legal aid; however, given that the proceedings for his incapacitation had been terminated, his request for legal aid was clearly irrelevant. 26. The Legal Aid Service noted that the decisions the applicant wished to challenge had been taken in January and March 2007. Given that he had not requested legal aid until 28 November 2008, he had missed the deadline for appeal against those decisions. Representing him in such proceedings would have had no prospect of success. 27. As to the appointment of the applicant’s mother as his legal guardian, the Legal Aid Service indicated that he had given no grounds for doubting her ability to perform her duties as guardian and the administrator of his property. Lastly, it observed that guardianship could be revoked at the request of a prosecutor or social services. Given that the applicant himself could not apply to the court with such a request, there was no legal basis for providing him legal assistance. 28. On 15 December 2008 the applicant requested that the Akmenė District Court give him a copy of the court rulings regarding his incapacitation and the appointment of his legal guardian. 29. On 16 December 2008 a judge of the Akmenė District Court wrote to the applicant informing him that those court rulings would not be given to him, because his mother had been appointed as his legal guardian and the administrator of his property. 30. In their observations on the admissibility and merits of the case, sent to the Court on 2 May 2012, the Government noted that at that time the applicant had lived separately in his own apartment. He had been unemployed but had received disability pension. His guardian had helped him with daily chores. He had also received regular outpatient treatment at the Akmenė District Psychiatric Health Centre. 31. On 13 August 2014 the applicant complained to the Šiauliai prosecutor’s office that in 2004 he had been forcibly admitted to the Šiauliai Psychiatric Hospital and made to undergo medical treatment. The applicant asked that a pre-trial investigation be opened regarding his allegations. 32. By a final ruling of 11 November 2014, the Šiauliai Regional Court held that the applicant’s complaints about events in 2004 were unfounded.