CASE OF RAJAK v. MONTENEGRO
Violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Civil proceedings;Article 6-1 - Reasonable time)
Jon Fridrik Kjølbro;Ledi Bianku;Nebojša Vučinić
4. The applicant was born in 1961 and lives in Bijela, Montenegro. 5. On 1 March 2012 the Herceg Novi First Instance Court rendered a judgment in favour of the applicant and ordered the applicant’s employer “Vektra Boka” AD Herceg Novi (hereinafter “the debtor”) to carry out a reallocation of plots for the construction of apartments. This judgment became final on 21 December 2012. 6. On 15 January 2013 the applicant requested enforcement of the above judgment and the Herceg Novi First Instance Court issued an enforcement order on 31 January 2013. 7. On 12 June 2015 the Commercial Court opened insolvency proceedings in respect of the debtor. 8. On 28 January 2016 the Herceg Novi First Instance Court transferred the case to the Commercial Court for further action. 9. On 22 March 2016 the Commercial Court suspended (obustavio) the enforcement due to the opening of the insolvency proceedings, which decision became final on 11 May 2016. 10. The judgement in question remains unenforced to the present day. 11. On 8 February 2013 the applicant instituted administrative proceedings seeking, on the basis of the above judgment, the removal of competing titles from the Land Register. 12. On 29 July 2015 the Real Estate Directorate terminated (prekinuo) the administrative proceedings because the Commercial Court had commenced insolvency proceeding in respect of the debtor. 13. On 7 September 2015 the applicant submitted an objection against the above decision. This objection was rejected as being out of time by the Real Estate Directorate on 5 October 2015. 14. The administrative proceedings are still pending. 15. On an unspecified day in 2003, the applicant instituted separate civil proceedings against the debtor, as his former employer, seeking reinstatement and damages. Following three remittals, on 3 March 2014 the Herceg Novi First Instance Court rendered a judgment in the applicant’s favour. 16. On 22 September 2015 the High Court upheld this judgment on the merits, but quashed it as regards the costs. 17. On 31 October 2016 the Herceg Novi First Instance Court transferred the case to the Commercial Court for further action due to the commencement of the insolvency proceedings in respect of the debtor. 18. On 22 February 2017 the Commercial Court ruled partly in favour of the applicant regarding the costs. 19. The parties did not inform the Court about when the Commercial Court’s decision became final and was served on the applicant.