CASE OF ATUDOREI v. ROMANIA
Violation of Article 5 - Right to liberty and security (Article 5-1 - Deprivation of liberty);Violation of Article 8 - Right to respect for private and family life (Article 8-1 - Respect for private life)
Alvina Gyulumyan;Ján Šikuta;Johannes Silvis;Josep Casadevall;Luis López Guerra
5. The applicant, Ms Dana Ruxanda Atudorei, is a Romanian national who was born in 1984 and lives in Bucharest. 6. In her initial letter to the Court, the applicant stated that from an early age she had been subjected to repeated physical and psychological abuse by her family. Her parents, especially her mother, had been aggressive towards her both verbally and physically, had refused to allow her to go anywhere unsupervised and had taken her to a psychologist because she had not achieved the highest possible marks when she was in second grade. In addition, her parents’ abuse had continued after they discovered that she had been attending weekly yoga classes organised by the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (Mişcarea pentru Integrare Spirituală în Absolut – “MISA”). 7. According to some reports, including an Amnesty International report of 27 May 1997 (AI Index EUR 39/03/97), from 1995 there had been several accounts of alleged police abuse of individuals who practised yoga and who were members of MISA. The reports noted that the authorities seemed to condone public intolerance of MISA as they perceived the leader of the organisation as an individual who urged his sympathisers to leave their way of life in order to pursue a communal life and to practice sexual perversion. 8. In March 2004 a large-scale negative press campaign and police operation targeted MISA. The leader and some members of the organisation faced criminal investigation for the alleged sexual corruption of minors. MISA’s leader left the country for Sweden. In 2005 the Swedish authorities refused an extradition request by the Romanian authorities. 9. On 30 July 2003 the applicant, who was of full legal age, was hospitalised in the Socola Psychiatric Hospital. According to her, she was taken to the said hospital by her parents against her will after they had discovered that she was attending yoga classes. 10. The medical reports produced by the said hospital stated that it was the first time the patient had been admitted to the Socola Hospital, and that she had been admitted at her mother’s request because of anxious and negative behaviour, irritability, a tendency to cry easily and depression, which were a reaction to psychological trauma, in particular a conflict with her parents. She was diagnosed with reactive depression and anxiety. The applicant’s condition had improved after group psychotherapy. She had been recommended medical treatment, psychotherapy and been advised to avoid psychotraumatic situations. 11. Her hospitalisation ended on 8 August 2003. 12. On 19 January 2005 the applicant travelled to her hometown, Bârlad, accompanied by M.A., her fiancé, in order to obtain a copy of her birth certificate, which she needed inter alia for her marriage to M.A. 13. While she was in the building housing the register office (Oficiul de Stare Civilă), her family appeared and surrounded her. 14. According to the applicant, her mother convinced her to go outside and talk to them before applying for her birth certificate. Once outside the building, her family became aggressive. After they pushed M.A. to the ground, they forced her into a vehicle and drove her to her grandparents’ house. Once there, her family took away her regular clothes and replaced them with old clothes and slippers. They also took away her money and identity papers. In addition, she was kept indoors continuously, supervised, threatened and psychologically pressured by them. 15. On 21 January 2005 Dr F., a general practitioner, referred the applicant to a psychiatric hospital with a diagnosis of schizo-paranoid behavioural disorder (tulburare de comportament de tip schizoparanoidă). There is no evidence in the file if Dr F. assessed the applicant prior to the drafting of the referral note, or on how the diagnosis was established. 16. On 3 February 2005 the applicant’s parents took her to the Nifon Unit of the Săpoca Psychiatric Hospital. According to the hospital’s public webpage, it is located in a forest 25 kilometres from the town of Buzău and can be reached only by private car or minibus. 17. On the same date, the applicant’s mother signed an informed consent form provided by the hospital on behalf of the applicant, acknowledging that she had read, understood and had time to consider all the information in the leaflet entitled “Information on Clozapin (Leponex) for patients and their families” (Informații despre Clozapin pentru pacienți si familii), that all her questions had been answered adequately and she had clarified any unknown words with the doctor or a member of the medical team, and that she was willing to accept the risks of the treatment. 18. The applicant’s mother was admitted to the hospital together with the applicant and remained there for the first five weeks of the latter’s hospitalisation. 19. According to a clinical observation paper on the applicant produced by the Săpoca Psychiatric Hospital, she had been hospitalised on the basis of Dr F.’s referral and diagnosis. The diagnosis on the day of hospitalisation had been “evolving borderline [disorder]” (borderline ȋn evoluție). That diagnosis remained unchanged during her hospitalisation and on the day of her discharge. During her hospitalisation the applicant was given psychotropic drug treatment which included Leponex. Her condition and progress were regularly monitored. She repeatedly suffered from, inter alia, constipation, lack of insight, lack of communication and drowsiness. She also presented a risk of orthostatic hypertension, which was monitored. In addition, on 4 March 2005 she “mentioned discharge” (aminteşte despre externare). 20. On 11 March 2005 the Vaslui Police Department informed M.A. that, inter alia, the applicant had been admitted to a specialised medical clinic for treatment and that the doctors had prohibited any contact with her during the full course of treatment. 21. On 16 March 2005 the applicant signed a written statement to the effect that she refused to allow the disclosure of the information in her observation paper. 22. The applicant was discharged from hospital on 1 April 2005. 23. On 24 August 2005, following an enquiry by Dr F., Dr I. agreed that the applicant was fit to enrol at a university. 24. On 16 October 2010 the management of the Săpoca Psychiatric Hospital informed the Government that according to Dr I. the applicant’s hospitalisation had been voluntary. On account of the applicant’s clinical condition, the informed consent form had been signed by the applicant’s mother on her behalf. The applicant could have left the hospital at any time. The hospital was located in the middle of a forest but had no fence or guards. The applicant had had access to two mobile phones and two landline phones. She had not been guarded at any time during her hospitalisation because the Nifon Unit of the Săpoca Psychiatric Hospital was not designed for forced hospitalisation and was used only for voluntary hospitalisations. The informed consent form signed by the applicant’s mother had amounted to an agreement to both hospitalisation and treatment because at that time, that is, on 3 February 2005, a standardised informed consent form had not been required. The hospital had applied the full procedure for non-voluntary hospitalisation as per the rules of enforcement contained in Law no. 487 of 11 July 2002 on mental health and the protection of people with mental disorders (“Law no. 487/2002”) from 2006, when that legislation was enacted. 25. On 19 January 2005 M.A. brought criminal proceedings against the applicant’s parents and brother, for unlawful deprivation of liberty. 26. The preliminary criminal investigation was assigned to police officer G.C. 27. On 20 January 2005 the applicant’s father gave a statement to the police officer. He mentioned that the applicant had refused to join them in returning home. Nonetheless, disregarding her refusal, they had taken her to her grandparents’ house and then had her hospitalised. They had taken those measures because they considered that it was their duty to help their daughter in view of the negative reports they had heard about MISA. 28. On 16 March 2005 police officer G.C. recommended, on the basis of the available evidence, that the Bârlad prosecutor’s office should not initiate criminal proceedings. The police officer had established that in 2003 the applicant had left her parents’ home and had started attending yoga classes organised by MISA. Subsequently, she had abandoned her studies and ceased to communicate with her family except for a few telephone conversations and a publicly televised argument. According to her parents, they had a family history of mental illness affecting consent. In this context, after discovering the applicant’s visit to her home town they had tried to talk to her outside the register office, but M.A. opposed. After a skirmish, the applicant’s mother had taken her to the family car in order to continue the discussion. M.A. had attempted to stop the car and had subsequently fallen to the ground. According to the staff members of the register office the applicant’s parents had not acted against her will. From 19 January to 3 February 2005 the applicant had lived with her maternal grandparents and had then been hospitalised in the Săpoca Psychiatric Hospital. An attempt had been made to question the applicant while she was there, but this had not been possible because she had been administered psychotropic medication. 29. By a decision of 13 April 2005, the Bârlad prosecutor’s office, in particular prosecutor N.C., relying on the facts established by police officer G.C., decided not to initiate criminal proceedings against the applicant’s parents and brother on the ground that no offence had been committed. 30. The applicant’s fiancé challenged that decision before the hierarchically superior prosecutor. He argued that the criminal investigation had been superficial because, inter alia, the authorities had failed to take a statement from the applicant, establish the type of medical treatment administered to her, and ascertain whether she had been taken away by her parents against her will. 31. By a final decision of 23 May 2005, the Bârlad prosecutor’s office, in particular the head prosecutor R.F., dismissed M.A.’s challenge as illfounded. It held that it had not been possible to take a statement from the applicant because she had been in a situation and state which prevented her from engaging in conversation as a result of psychotropic medication she had been administered, which had a negative psychopathological effect. Moreover, it would have been immoral to find that the applicant’s parents had unlawfully deprived her of her freedom given that she had been unable to express her own will because she was constantly accompanied by MISA members and was not allowed to attend meetings alone. M.A. was sixteen years older than the applicant and he had not been able to prove that he was her fiancé. He had initially informed an employee at the mayor’s office that he was the applicant’s boyfriend, and had stated that he was her fiancé only after a telephone conversation with a third party, and only in order to justify his own interests in respect of the applicant. It had been natural for the applicant’s parents to attempt to bring their daughter back home by any means necessary and to try to ensure her physical and emotional recovery, given that they had seen the press campaign concerning what happened to young women at the MISA premises. According to her parents, they had made considerable efforts to recover the applicant physically, while psychologically it had been clear that she was unable to express herself as long as MISA members accompanied her everywhere, including to family meetings. As to the medical treatment the applicant had been administered, the parties would have to ask the doctor who had treated her. The applicant’s fiancé appealed against that decision before the domestic courts. 32. By a judgment of 21 October 2005, the Bârlad District Court dismissed the applicant’s fiancé’s appeal. It held that he had refused to substantiate his action before the court. Moreover, there was no evidence in the file that the applicant’s parents had unlawfully deprived her of her freedom. 33. There is no evidence in the case-file that the applicant’s fiancé lodged any appeal on points of law (recurs) against that judgment. 34. On 1 April 2005 the applicant was released from hospital and taken by her parents to her grandparents’ house. According to the applicant, during her stay there she was kept under supervision and isolated from the outside world. 35. On 23 May 2005 the applicant brought criminal proceedings against her parents, alleging, inter alia, that they had forcibly detained her and that she had been unable to leave the house. She urged the authorities to do everything necessary to help her leave, given that she was of age and wanted to live her own life. 36. By a decision of 27 September 2005, the Bârlad prosecutor’s office, dismissed the applicant’s complaint on the ground that her parents’ actions did not disclose any elements of an offence. It noted that the applicant’s parents had been worried because she was a MISA member, and that was why they had taken her to her grandmother’s home and then to a psychiatric hospital. According to the applicant’s statement following her questioning, she had not been forcibly detained by her parents but they had helped to get her admitted to a psychiatric hospital. There is no evidence in the file that the applicant challenged the above-mentioned decision before the domestic courts. 37. According to the applicant, on 10 October 2005, helped by friends and her fiancé, she managed to leave her grandparents’ house. Afterwards she settled in Bucharest and on 5 November 2005 she married M.A. 38. On 3 August 2005 the applicant brought disciplinary proceedings before the Buzău Disciplinary Commission against Dr I. in respect of her forced placement in the Nifon Unit of the Săpoca Psychiatric Hospital and the medical treatment that she had received there. 39. On 13 December 2005 and 3 October 2007, Dr P., the applicant’s private psychiatrist, issued two medical certificates stating that she was psychologically healthy. The certificates noted that the applicant had been monitored by Dr P. since 15 October 2005 and that during that time she had not received any treatment and had shown no signs of a psychological condition. 40. On 1 March 2006 the Buzău Disciplinary Commission dismissed the applicant’s complaint. The applicant challenged the decision before the Higher Disciplinary Commission (Comisia superioară de disciplină a Colegiului Medicilor din România). 41. On 20 April 2007 the Higher Disciplinary Commission quashed the Buzău Disciplinary Commission’s decision of 1 March 2006, finding that Dr I. had acted in breach of the rules of good medical practice, and gave him a warning (avertisment). It held that according to the available evidence the applicant and her parents had been in a state of conflict and she had been opposed to her hospitalisation. Consequently, the doctor had been required to examine the patient’s clinical situation and the circumstances she was facing. Regardless of his decision, the doctor had to protect the patient. If he had assessed the patient’s clinical condition as amounting to an imminent risk for her or others, or if failure to hospitalise her would have aggravated her condition, non-voluntary hospitalisation would have been required even if the patient objected to her hospitalisation. However, there was no evidence that the relevant procedure had been initiated. 42. At the same time, only medical reasons could justify a decision to hospitalise. However, the observation sheet produced by the hospital mentioned as one of the reasons for hospitalisation – none of them of a psychotic intensity to suggest a psychotic development in the borderline disorder – that the patient had joined counter-cultural informal groups (agregă ȋn grupuri informale disculturale). Moreover, the observation sheet did not contain a full psychological assessment. Consequently, the treatment with Laponex had not been justified. 43. Furthermore, the Buzău Disciplinary Commission’s arguments that the hospitalisation had not been forced because the patient could have left the hospital, and that Dr I. had a professional duty to examine the patient and to prescribe adequate treatment, could not be taken into consideration. The doctor’s conduct had to be in accordance with the law, which stated that the treatment had to be discussed with the patient and that the patient’s consent had to be sought prior to treatment. The aforementioned conditions became less important only in the circumstances of forced hospitalisation. However, it did not appear that a forced hospitalisation procedure had been initiated in the applicant’s case. 44. Leponex treatment was to be used exclusively in the advanced stages of schizophrenia or in cases of severe borderline personality disorder involving frequent relapses and self-harm, if no other medication proved to offer a satisfactory improvement in the patient’s condition. The use of that medication in the applicant’s case from the early stages of her treatment had been unusual. In some cases the medication could cause agranulacytosis (a low white blood cells count which favours fevers and infections). Consequently, doctors who prescribed it were required to comply strictly with the necessary safety measures. However, in the applicant’s case there was no evidence that the required weekly blood tests had been carried out. 45. Furthermore, the necessary tests for establishing whether she was suffering from a borderline personality disorder had not been conducted at all. 46. On 14 December 2005 the applicant brought criminal proceedings for unlawful deprivation of liberty between 19 January and 10 October 2005, serious bodily harm, and cooperation with a view to committing an offence, against her family, police officer G.C. and Dr I. She argued that the culprits had cooperated in order to unlawfully deprive her of her liberty, to hospitalise her against her will and to damage her health as a result of the medical treatment she received in the hospital. 47. On 1 June 2006 the Bacău prosecutor’s office questioned the applicant. She stated, inter alia, that on arrival at the hospital she had informed the nurse who had told her that she was being hospitalised that she opposed the measure. She had subsequently been taken to Dr I.’s office, where she had had a short conversation with him and she had expressly informed him that she did not wish to remain in the hospital. The doctor had informed her that her general practitioner had referred her to the hospital, and he forced her to take medication, which had made her drowsy and numb. Afterwards she had been taken out of the doctor’s office and one of the nurses had asked her to sign a document which she was unable to read owing to her situation. The nurse had not informed her of the document’s content. Although she had signed the document automatically, she had only later been told that she had signed her hospitalisation papers. 48. The applicant further stated that during her hospitalisation she had been constantly supervised by her mother. In addition, she had received inappropriate medication and had constantly felt ill. In particular, she had suffered nausea, headaches, drowsiness, constipation, urinary incontinence, excess salivation, low immunity, loss of motor control and loss of insight. She had also gained fifteen kilos and had developed anaemia as a result of suffering haemorrhages. 49. She also stated that during her hospitalisation she had informed police officer G.C. that she had been hospitalised against her will, and because he had refused to act on that information she had refused to grant him access to her medical file. In July 2005 the same police officer had visited her at her grandparents’ house to question her after her fiancé had brought criminal proceedings against some of her family members. On that occasion the police officer had dictated the content of her statement and had omitted some of the facts presented by her. 50. On 21 June 2006, the applicant informed the Bacău prosecutor’s office that she had joined the criminal proceedings as a civil party. 51. On 28 November 2006, the Bacău prosecutor’s office decided not to initiate criminal proceedings against G.C. on the ground that no offence had been committed, ordered that the criminal investigation be continued in respect of the applicant’s family members, and referred the case to the Moineşti prosecutor’s office. It noted that police officer G.C. had visited the applicant at the hospital in order to take a statement from her. While initially Dr I. had denied G.C. access to the applicant because of her medical condition, in the following days he had agreed to allow him to speak to her. The prosecutor’s office also noted that according to G.C. the applicant had refused to provide a statement or to allow him to copy her medical observation papers, and had not informed him that she had been hospitalised against her will. Lastly, it noted that there was no evidence to suggest that police officer G.C. had been informed that the applicant had been deprived of her liberty when he questioned her at her grandparents’ home in July 2005. The applicant challenged the decision before the hierarchically superior prosecutor. 52. By a decision of 5 February 2007, the head prosecutor at the Bacău prosecutor’s office allowed the applicant’s challenge, quashed the decision of 28 November 2006 and ordered that the investigation be reopened. The head prosecutor considered that the applicant and the defence witnesses indicated by her should be heard. In addition, the medical documents concerning the applicant’s state of health, the reasons for her hospitalisation and her medical recovery were to be attached to the investigation file. 53. On 8 May 2007, the Bacău prosecutor’s office decided not to initiate criminal proceedings against police officer G.C., the applicant’s family members or Dr I. on the ground that no offence had been committed. It held that according to the medical report of 21 March 2005 produced by the Psychiatric Centre of the Nifon Unit, the applicant had been suffering from a schizo-paranoid behavioural disorder which had required her hospitalisation in a specialised medical facility for treatment and medical supervision. Her family’s actions had been caused by the applicant joining MISA, and they had only been attempting to provide her with the opportunity to continue her treatment. The applicant challenged that decision before the hierarchically superior prosecutor. 54. By a final decision of 13 June 2007, the head prosecutor of the Bacău prosecutor’s office dismissed the applicant’s challenge and upheld the decision of 8 May 2007. The applicant appealed against the decision before the domestic courts. She argued that after the investigation of the case had been reopened on 5 February 2007, the authorities had failed to gather any additional evidence, in particular to hear witnesses, to determine the circumstances of her confinement, and to examine the medical treatment she had received, which had affected her health. 55. By a judgment of 16 November 2007, the Bacău County Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal and upheld the decision of the prosecutor’s office. It held that no offence of cooperating in order to commit an unlawful act could have been committed given that it could not be concluded that the alleged perpetrators had met one another other than by chance, or that they had made detailed plans to commit an offence. In addition, the available evidence did not confirm the existence of an offence of serious bodily harm. There were no medical reports supporting the allegations of trauma, and the medical report of 21 March 2005 produced by the Psychiatric Centre of the Nifon Unit had stated that the applicant was suffering from a schizoparanoid behavioural disorder which required her hospitalisation in a specialised medical facility for treatment and medical supervision. Lastly, the available evidence did not confirm the existence of an offence of unlawful deprivation of liberty either. On the basis of the witness statements, it could not be concluded that on 19 January 2005 the applicant’s family had acted against her will. The applicant had also failed to inform officer G.C. that her family had deprived her of her liberty either at the hospital or at her grandparents’ home. Consequently, given the absence of clear and concrete evidence of guilt, the alleged perpetrators’ right to the presumption of innocence could not be rebutted. 56. The court further dismissed the applicant’s argument that after the re-opening of the criminal investigation no further evidence had been added to the file, on the grounds that she had been heard by the prosecutor’s office and that she had not requested the hearing of witnesses or additional evidence. The applicant’s argument that the authorities had failed to review the circumstances of her confinement and the medical treatment she had received was also dismissed on the ground that the medical documents attached to the file had stated her diagnosis and the doctor’s recommendation of hospitalisation, treatment and medical supervision. 57. The applicant lodged an appeal on points of law (recurs) against that judgment. 58. By a final judgment of 14 February 2008, the Bacău Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s appeal on points of law on the ground that the available evidence did not clearly and unequivocally prove the guilt of the alleged perpetrators. The judgment was drafted on 20 February 2008 and appears to have been made available to the applicant on 18 June 2008. 59. On 27 February 2007, following the referral of the Bacău prosecutor’s office of 28 November 2006 (see paragraph 51 above), the Moinești prosecutor’s office decided not to institute criminal proceedings against the applicant’s family members, Dr I., and police officer G.C., on the ground that no offences had been committed. It noted, inter alia, that the applicant had been committed to hospital with a diagnosis of paranoid behavioural disorder. Moreover, her condition required continuous outpatient medical care for an undetermined period of time. The applicant challenged the decision before the hierarchically superior prosecutor. 60. On 7 June 2007 the head prosecutor of the Moinești prosecutor’s office declined to examine the applicant’s challenge on the ground that the prosecutor who had delivered the decision of 27 February 2007 was his wife, and he referred the case to the Bacău prosecutor’s office. 61. By a final decision of 15 June 2007, the Bacău prosecutor’s office dismissed the applicant’s challenge on the ground that it had already examined the issues raised by it in its decision of 8 May 2007. The applicant appealed against the decision before the domestic courts. She argued that the authorities investigating her case had failed to gather all available evidence, or hear all parties to the proceedings, and that the decision of the Bacău prosecutor’s office had concerned a different person and different offences. 62. By a judgment of 22 November 2007, the Moineşti District Court allowed the applicant’s appeal, quashed the decision, ordered the Moineşti prosecutor’s office to continue its investigation of the case, to gather the evidence requested by the parties and to question the parties, the staff members of the hospital, and the neighbours of the grandmother in whose house the applicant had been held. It held that the previous decisions by the prosecutor’s offices had addressed the applicant’s complaints in respect of only some of the parties concerned. In addition, the medical report of 21 March 2005 had been contradicted by the conclusions of the Higher Disciplinary Commission’s decision. Further, according to the applicant’s psychiatrist, from 15 October 2005 the applicant had not received any treatment and had not shown any symptoms of illness. 63. The Moineşti prosecutor’s office and the defendants appealed on points of law. The prosecutor’s office argued that the statements that had been taken by the Bacău prosecutor’s office were relevant on account of the hierarchical relationship between the two prosecutors’ offices, and therefore the re-questioning of the applicant and of the perpetrators had no longer been required. In addition, the applicant had failed to identify the witnesses she wished to have questioned. The questioning of all medical staff had no legal basis and the court had not identified which of the neighbours of the applicant’s grandmother should have been questioned, or the scope of such questioning. Moreover, the applicant had failed to prove that any offences had actually been committed, had not submitted any medical report attesting to a bodily injury, and had herself acknowledged that she had signed the hospitalisation papers automatically, and that during her stay at her grandparents’ home she had had access to a visiting room (vorbitor) and thus had been able to communicate with others. Furthermore, according to the Higher Disciplinary Commission the hospitalisation of a patient was possible against his or her will. The same body had concluded that the applicant’s hospitalisation had been voluntary. Lastly, the psychiatrist had been disciplined on account of the inappropriate treatment administered to the applicant and not because the applicant had not been suffering from of 14 February 2008. 64. By a final judgment of 11 April 2008, the Bacău County Court declared the Prosecutor Office’s appeal on points of law inadmissible on procedural grounds, allowed the defendants’ appeal on points of law, quashed the judgment of the lower court, and dismissed the applicant’s appeal against the decision of 15 June 2007. It held that thed during the sets of proceedings which had ended with the final decision of 23 May 2005 and the final judgment of 14 February 2008, and that the applicant had not adduced any new information or evidence in order to justify the opening of criminal proceedings in respect of the same acts and persons. 65. On 30 January 2006 the applicant brought criminal proceedings for abuse of office and aiding and abetting an offender against prosecutors R.F. and N.C. The applicant complained about the quality of the prosecutors’ investigations. 66. On 14 May 2008 the prosecutor’s office attached to the Court of Cassation decided, on the basis of the available evidence, not to initiate criminal proceedings against the two prosecutors on the ground that no offence had been committed. It held that although insufficiently reasoned, the examination of the merits of the case by the Bârlad prosecutor’s office had been accurate. In addition, it noted that those events which had taken place after 19 January 2005 had not been known at the time and therefore had not been investigated. Consequently, it referred the case to the Bârlad prosecutor’s office in order for it to investigate the applicant’s parents for the alleged deprivation of the applicant’s liberty in the period between 19 January and 10 October 2005. The applicant challenged the decision before the hierarchically superior prosecutor. 67. By a final decision of 25 June 2008, the head prosecutor of the prosecutor’s office attached to the Court of Cassation dismissed the applicant’s challenge as ill-founded. The applicant appealed against that decision before the domestic courts. 68. By a decision of 11 November 2008, the Bârlad prosecutor’s office dismissed the applicant’s action concerning the alleged deprivation of her liberty by her parents in the period between 19 January and 10 October 2005. It held that the applicant’s complaint had already been dismissed in the final judgments of 14 February and 11 April 2008 in accordance with the relevant rules of criminal procedure, and in the absence of any new relevant information the criminal proceedings could not be reopened or reinitiated. There is no evidence in the file that the applicant appealed against that decision before the domestic courts. 69. By a judgment of 21 January 2009, the Court of Cassation dismissed the applicant’s appeal against the decision of 25 June 2008 as ill-founded. It held that there was no evidence suggesting that the prosecutors had committed an offence, or that the decisions taken by them had been unlawful. The applicant appealed on points of law against that judgment. 70. By a final judgment of 6 July 2009, the Court of Cassation dismissed the appeal as time-barred. 71. The applicant submitted to the Court a large number of press articles, photographs and transcripts of television talk-shows concerning the conduct of the leader of MISA, the criminal investigation against him, the applicant’s conflict with her parents, and the measures and efforts undertaken by her parents to reconnect with her. 72. By a decision of 13 April 2006 the Romanian Council for Combating Discrimination dismissed the applicant’s complaint that the actions of her parents and Dr I. had amounted to discrimination on the basis of her beliefs. It held that the facts of the applicant’s case did not indicate discrimination. There is no evidence in the file that the applicant challenged that decision before the domestic courts.