| Applicant name | BLAGOVESHCHENSKA AND BORYSENKO |
| Applicant type | Natural person |
| Number of applicants | 1 |
| Country | Ukraine |
| Application no. | 30182/17 32155/17 |
| Date | 10/10/2024 |
| Judges | Kateřina Šimáčková, President, Mykola Gnatovskyy, Úna Ní Raifeartaigh |
| Institution | Court |
| Type | Judgment |
| Outcome Art. 8 | Violation |
| Reason | Positive obligation |
| Type of privacy | bodily privacy; procedural privacy |
| Keywords | Procedural requirments implicit |
| Facts of the case | The applicants complained that medical negligence on the part of the clinic’s staff had resulted in severe damage to their health and that the investigation into the incident had been lengthy and ineffective. They further argued that because of the ongoing criminal proceedings, they were precluded from seeking damages from the private clinic E. in the civil courts and that the prosecutor’s office had concealed from them the fact that the investigation had been suspended. They relied on Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention. The Court, being master of the characterisation to be given in law to the facts of the case, will examine the application from the standpoint of Article 8 of the Convention |
| Analysis | The Court observes that the criminal proceedings in the applicants’ case were launched by the domestic authorities after they had identified the elements of an offence in the medical practitioners’ actions. The Court notes, however, that the criminal investigation in the applicants’ case lasted for a total of more than thirteen years and was plagued with inexplicable periods of inactivity. It appears that for the last ten years no investigative activities were carried out at all. The Court therefore considers that the unreasonably long investigation failing to establish a direct causal link between the actions of the clinic’s staff and the conditions experienced by the applicants, prevented them for more than thirteen years from accessing proceedings in which they could obtain compensation for damage. |
| Other Article violation? | – |
| Damage awarded | (i) EUR 2,700 (two thousand seven hundred euros), to be converted into the national currency at the rate applicable at the date of settlement, plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non‑pecuniary damage; (ii) EUR 1,000 (one thousand euros), to be converted into the national currency at the rate applicable at the date of settlement, plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of costs and expenses; |
| Documents | Judgment |