CASE OF YAKOVLEVA v. RUSSIA
Violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Civil proceedings;Article 6-1 - Access to court)
Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos;Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska;Ksenija Turković
4. The applicant is a Russian national and lives in Saratov. 5. On 1 June 1994 the applicant’s father, Mr Vladimir Dmitrievich Yakovlev, deposited an unspecified amount of money with the Savings Bank of the Russian Federation (“the Savings Bank”) in her name. The deposit was to be kept for at least ten years and was redeemable after the applicant had reached the age of sixteen. The interest rate was fixed at 190 per cent per annum. 6. Later, the Savings Bank reduced the interest rate. 7. Considering the Savings Bank’s unilateral decision unlawful, Mr Yakovlev brought a civil claim against it. 8. On 25 July 2001 the Frunzenskiy District Court of Saratov found that the terms of the deposit did not provide for unilateral changes in the interest rate and held that the Savings Bank should calculate interest at the rate of 190 per cent starting from 1 June 1994 and until the maturity of the deposit. 9. On 31 August 2001 the Saratov Regional Court upheld that judgment on appeal. 10. On 13 January 2003 Mr Yakovlev died. 11. On an unspecified date the Savings Bank lodged an application for supervisory review which was rejected by the Saratov Regional Court on 19 May 2003. 12. On 30 January 2004 the Savings Bank filed a new application for supervisory review with the Presidium of the Saratov Regional Court. It asserted that Mr Yakovlev’s claim should have been dismissed as premature because the maturity date had not yet occurred. 13. On 26 April 2004 the Presidium of the Saratov Regional Court quashed the judgment of 25 July 2001, as upheld on 31 August 2001, and dismissed the claim lodged by the late Mr Yakovlev, holding that the interest could only be calculated after the terms of the deposit had been fulfilled. As regards the re-opening of the proceedings after the plaintiff’s death, the Presidium found as follows: “The fact that Mr V. Yakovlev died does not preclude a new decision from being made in the case because his claim had been lodged on behalf of his underage daughter – Ms Ye. Yakovleva. At present she is represented by her mother, Mrs N. Yakovleva, who participated to the hearing before the Presidium.” 14. On 2 May 2005 the applicant turned sixteen. On an unspecified date the Savings Bank offered to pay her 28,928 Russian roubles (RUB) (approximately 900 euros (EUR)). There is no information on whether she accepted this offer.