CASE OF ESCALDA FERREIRA v. PORTUGAL
Violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Enforcement proceedings;Article 6-1 - Reasonable time)
Paulo Pinto De Albuquerque
4. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 5. On 19 January 2005 bank C. brought enforcement proceedings against the applicant before the Setúbal Court seeking the payment of a debt of 106,278.60 euros (EUR) plus EUR 23,122.72 in interest. 6. On 8 October 2007 a writ of execution was issued against the applicant concerning an apartment he had mortgaged to the bank (penhora do apartamento). On an unspecified date a judicial enforcement officer (agente de execução) was appointed by the Setúbal Court as depositary (fiel depositário), thus being in charge of the apartment and responsible for the course of the enforcement proceedings through the sale of the applicant’s apartment, pursuant to the Code of Civil Procedure. 7. On 29 September 2009 the applicant lodged a complaint with the Setúbal Court regarding the judicial enforcement officer’s inactivity in the proceedings. 8. On 15 February 2012 the applicant lodged a complaint with the Commission for the Efficiency of Executions (Comissão para a Eficácia das Execuções) complaining about the judicial enforcement officer’s professional conduct which was preventing the sale of the applicant’s apartment. On 18 June 2012 the Commission acknowledged the receipt of the applicant’s complaint and in July 2012 informed him that they would start disciplinary proceedings against the judicial enforcement officer. 9. On 3 October 2012 following the applicant’s complaint of 29 September 2009, the Setúbal Court adopted a decision removing the judicial enforcement officer from his post on the grounds of professional negligence and appointed a new one. 10. According to the last information received by the Court on 8 July 2014 the proceedings are still pending at first instance.