CASE OF ANTUNOVIĆ v. CROATIA
No violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Administrative proceedings;Article 6-1 - Access to court)
Nebojša Vučinić;Paul Lemmens;Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström;Georges Ravarani;Ksenija Turković
5. The applicant was born in 1956 and lives in Sibinj. 6. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 7. The applicant was a civil servant of the City of Slavonski Brod, working in its Office for Public Relations and Protocol (Grad Slavonski Brod, Ured za odnose s javnošću i protokol – hereinafter “the City of Slavonski Brod”). In 2007 he was suspended from the civil service on account of having been accused of severe breaches of his official duties. 8. For the duration of his suspension, that is to say between September 2007 and September 2008, the applicant was entitled to monthly salary compensation in the amount of 60% of the salary remitted in the month prior to his suspension from the civil service. 9. On 5 September 2008 the Osijek Civil Service Tribunal (Službenički sud u Osijeku) found the applicant guilty of severe breaches of his official duties and fined him 10% of the salary paid to him in the month in which the said sanction was imposed. 10. On 14 October 2008, after the applicant lodged an appeal, the Superior Civil Service Tribunal (Viši službenički sud) amended the impugned decision and fined the applicant 5% of his salary paid in the month in which the said sanction was imposed. 11. On 3 November 2008 the applicant lodged an application for the reimbursement of the portion of his gross salary – in the total amount of 78,428.47 Croatian kunas ((HRK), approximately 10,900 euros (EUR) at the time) – withheld during the suspension period between September 2007 and September 2008, together with accrued default interest running from the date of his suspension until payment of the said portion. He was of the opinion that by withholding 40% of his salary for a period of 12 months and imposing a fine on him the administrative bodies had punished him twice. 12. By a decision of 17 November 2008 the City of Slavonski Brod dismissed that application. 13. The applicant then lodged an appeal, which was dismissed as ill-founded by the same administrative body that delivered the above-mentioned decision (that is to say the City of Slavonski Brod). However, in its decision of 22 December 2008 it gave the instruction that the applicant had a right to bring an administrative action against it before the Administrative Court. 14. On 22 January 2009 the applicant brought an administrative action, in accordance with the City of Slavonski Brod’s ruling. 15. On 1 January 2012 certain amendments to the Court Act entered into force and the Administrative Court became the High Administrative Court. 16. By a decision of 4 January 2012 the High Administrative Court, relying on sections 9 and 30(1), point 5, of the Administrative Disputes Act, declined jurisdiction in respect of the subject matter, stating that an ordinary municipal court (redovni, općinski sud) was the appropriate court to hear the applicant’s case, and declared the applicant’s action inadmissible. This decision was final. On 16 February 2012 it served its decision on the applicant’s representative. 17. On 12 March 2012 the applicant lodged a constitutional complaint. He complained, inter alia, that his right to a fair hearing, in particular his right of access to court, as guaranteed by Article 29 of the Croatian Constitution and Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, had been violated when the High Administrative Court had declared his action inadmissible. In particular, he argued that according to the Supreme Court’s case-law, ordinary municipal courts did not have jurisdiction over disputes arising from legally binding decisions of administrative bodies. He also argued that even if he had brought a civil action, it would have been time-barred because it had taken the High Administrative Court more than three years to declare his administrative action inadmissible. 18. By a decision of 5 July 2012 the Constitutional Court declared the applicant’s constitutional complaint inadmissible on the grounds that the case raised no constitutional issue. On 17 July 2012 it served its decision on the applicant’s representative. 19. On 6 September 2012 the applicant brought a civil action in the Slavonski Brod Municipal Court (Općinski sud u Slavonskom Brodu) for reimbursement of salary arrears withheld between September 2007 and September 2008. 20. By a judgment of 20 March 2013 the first-instance court dismissed the applicant’s claim as time-barred. It held, inter alia, that given that the High Administrative Court had declared the applicant’s administrative action inadmissible, it could not be deemed that the statutory limitation period had been interrupted. It relied on section 242(2) of the Civil Obligations Act. 21. By a judgment of 12 August 2013 the Slavonski Brod County Court (Županijski sud u Slavonskom Brodu) dismissed the applicant’s appeal and upheld the first-instance judgment of 20 March 2013.