CASE OF KUDIC v. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Violation of Art. 6-1;Violation of P1-1;Non-pecuniary damage - award
Giovanni Bonello;Lech Garlicki;Ledi Bianku;Nebojša Vučinić;Nicolas Bratza;Päivi Hirvelä
4. The applicants were born in 1928 and 1933 respectively and live in Bihać. 5. Prior to the dissolution of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (“the SFRY”) the applicants deposited foreign currency in their bank accounts at the Privredna banka Sarajevo Glavna filijala Bihać. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in other successor States of the former SFRY, such savings are commonly referred to as “old” foreign-currency savings (for the relevant background information see Jeličić v. Bosnia and Herzegovina (dec.), no. 41183/02, ECHR 2005-...). 6. Following several unsuccessful attempts to withdraw their funds, the applicants initiated court proceedings seeking the recovery of their entire “old” foreign-currency savings and accrued interest. 7. By a decision of the Bihać Municipal Court of 3 December 1993, the Privredna banka Sarajevo Glavna filijala Bihać was ordered to pay the applicants 54,469.42 German marks (DEM), 19,257.25 Swiss francs, 81.12 French francs, 60,120.49 Austrian shillings, 185.61 Canadian dollars, 231.86 US dollars, 163.39 Dutch guilders and 22,217.60 Italian liras, default interest on the above amounts at the rate applicable to overnight deposits from private individuals from 1 January 1992 and legal costs in the amount of DEM 1,940. The judgment entered into force on 12 June 1994. 8. On 9 April 1997 the Bihać Municipal Court issued a writ of execution (rješenje o izvršenju). The execution proceedings were effectively stayed between 12 January 1998 and 12 September 2001. 9. Meanwhile, on 28 November 1997, the judgment debt became a public debt pursuant to the Settlement of Claims Against the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Act 1997. 10. On 6 April 2005 the Human Rights Commission within the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (“the Human Rights Commission”) found a violation of Article 6 of the Convention and of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention arising from a failure to enforce the judgment of 3 December 1993. It ordered the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to ensure full enforcement of the judgment in issue within two months, to pay the equivalent of 255 euros in respect of non-pecuniary damage within three months and to pay default interest after the expiry of the above time-limits at the annual rate of 10%. 11. On 28 October 2005 the applicants received the compensation awarded by the Human Rights Commission. 12. The judgment of 3 December 1993 was fully enforced on 5 June 2007 (the applicants were paid the principal debt, default interest and legal costs in the amounts specified in the judgment). 13. For relevant law and practice see the admissibility decision in Jeličić, cited above; Suljagić v. Bosnia and Herzegovina (dec.), no. 27912/02, 20 June 2006; the judgment in Jeličić v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, no. 41183/02, ECHR 2006...; and Pejaković and Others v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, nos. 337/04, 36022/04 and 45219/04, 18 December 2007.