CASE OF ONAR v. TURKEY
Violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Civil proceedings;Article 6-1 - Access to court)
András Sajó;Helen Keller;Robert Spano
4. The applicants were born in 1964, 1958, 1993, 1997, 1997, 2000, 1998, 1994, 1990 and 1989 respectively and live in Batman. 5. On 26 June 2005, the first two applicants’ son and the other applicants’ brother, A.O., aged fourteen at the time, went into Batman Stream to swim and subsequently drowned. 6. According to the applicants, the uncontrolled draining of sand from Batman Stream of Dicle River changed the stream’s ecological balance. Eventually, holes and vortexes which occurred as a result of uncontrolled sand drain allegedly contributed to A. O.’s drowning. 7. Criminal proceedings where initiated against the Beysan joint stock company (“the company”), which was conducting the sand mining business at the time of events, and the Batman Governor’s office which issued the necessary permits to run the sand mine. On 5 March 2005, the criminal proceedings before the Batman public prosecutor’s office concluded with a decision not to prosecute. On 12 March 2006, the first applicant appealed against the non-prosecution decision. However, on 19 March 2007 his appeal request was also rejected by the Batman Assize Court. 8. While the criminal proceedings were pending, the first applicant requested the determination of evidence from the Batman Magistrates’ Court into the incident which led to A.O.’s death. Two expert reports were issued following the scene investigation, conducted by the Batman Magistrates’ Court on 8 July 2005. According to the expert reports, it was stated that the uncontrolled sand draining from Batman Stream changed the natural flow of the water and caused artificial holes and vortexes which amounted to three meters in depth in some parts. Despite these dangers, there were no warning signs. 9. On 27 July 2005 the applicants being convinced that the failure of the authorities and the company to take necessary safety measures to protect A.O.’s right to life, applied to the civil court of first instance with a compensation request. They sought a total of 75,000 Turkish liras (TRY) (46,500 euros (EUR) at the time) in compensation for both pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages. 10. The applicants also requested legal aid for the court fees. On 15 August 2005, the Batman Civil Court of First Instance ordered the Security Directorate in Batman to investigate the economical means of the applicants. According to the report submitted by the Security Directorate, it was revealed that the applicants were unemployed and lived on state benefits and help from their neighbours. Nevertheless, the trial court rejected the applicants’ legal aid request on the basis of Sıddık Onar, the father of the deceased’s, age and his ability to work. 11. On 1 December 2006 the trial court notified the applicants that they were required to pay a court fee of TRY 214.76 (approximately EUR 115) within ten days in order to continue the proceedings and that the proceedings would be discontinued if they failed to do so. 12. On 29 December 2006 the Batman Civil Court of First Instance decided to discontinue the proceedings as the applicants had not paid the court fees.