CASE OF SVORCAN v. MONTENEGRO
Violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Civil proceedings;Article 6-1 - Reasonable time)
Nebojša Vučinić;Paul Lemmens;Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström
5. The applicant was born in 1950 and lives in Belgrade, Serbia. 6. The relevant facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 7. On 18 September 1995 the applicant and her family members instituted proceedings before the Court of First Instance (Osnovni sud) in Herceg Novi, seeking division of their joint property. 8. On 5 May 1997 the Court of First Instance in Herceg Novi discontinued these proceedings and instructed the parties to initiate a separate civil case given a number of contentious issues. 9. On 8 September 1997 the applicant’s cousins brought a claim against the applicant and her parents before the Court of First Instance in Herceg Novi. On 30 December 1997, the cousins lodged an additional claim concerning the same matter. Both claims were subsequently joined and examined in the same civil proceedings. 10. On 1 October 2002 the Court of First Instance in Herceg Novi ruled against the applicant and her parents. 11. On 25 June 2004 the High Court (Viši sud) in Podgorica upheld this judgment on appeal. The judgment, thereby, became final. It was served on the applicant on 15 July 2004. 12. On 17 August 2004 the applicant lodged an appeal on points of law (revizija) with the Supreme Court of Montenegro. 13. This appeal was misplaced until 20 January 2006, when the applicant’s lawyers intervened and urged the authorities to find it. On 12 January 2007 the applicant amended her appeal on points of law. 14. On 14 February 2008 the Supreme Court of Montenegro rejected the applicant’s appeal on points of law as unfounded. This decision was served on the applicant on 6 March 2008.