Lexploria

Application No. 10574/83

KOEN NYSSEN

against

BELGIUM

&S

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION

adopted on 8 July 1987

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

INTRODUCTION .................................... 2

Part I : STATEMENT OF THE FACTS ................ 4

Part II : SOLUTION REACHED ...................... 5

&_INTRODUCTION&S

1. This Report relates to Application No. 10574/83 introduced by

Koen Nyssen against Belgium on 17 June 1983 under Article 25 of the

Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental

Freedoms. The application was registered on 3 October 1983.

The applicant was represented by Mrs. L. Versluys-Dunesme, a

lawyer practising in Leuven.

The Government were represented by their Agent, Mr. J. Niset

of the Ministry of Justice.

On 10 October 1985, the European Commission of Human Rights

declared admissible the applicant's complaint that military courts

cannot be considered as independent and impartial tribunals for the

trial of a civilian who, for political and conscientious reasons,

refuses to perform either military or substituted civilian service.

The Commission declared inadmissible the applicant's complaint

under Article 7 that he was prosecuted in an unjustified way, because

this complaint was not introduced within six months after the final

decision.*

The Commission then proceeded to carry out its task under

Article 28 of the Convention which provides as follows:

"In the event of the Commission accepting a petition

referred to it:

(a) it shall, with a view to ascertaining the facts,

undertake together with the representatives of the parties

an examination of the petition and, if need be, an

investigation, for the effective conduct of which the

States concerned shall furnish all necessary facilities,

after an exchange of views with the Commission;

(b) it shall place itself at the disposal of the parties

concerned with a view to securing a friendly settlement

of the matter on the basis of respect for Human Rights as

defined in this Convention."

-----------

* The Commission's decision on the admissibility is public

and can be obtained from the Commission's Secretary.

3. The Commission found that the parties had reached a friendly

settlement of the case and on 8 July 1987 it adopted this Report

which, in accordance with Article 30 of the Convention, is confined

to a brief statement of the facts and of the solution reached. The

following members of the Commission were present when the Report was

adopted:

MM. C. A. NØRGAARD, President

J. A. FROWEIN

E. BUSUTTIL

G. JÖRUNDSSON

G. TENEKIDES

S. TRECHSEL

B. KIERNAN

A. WEITZEL

H. G. SCHERMERS

H. DANELIUS

G. BATLINER

H. VANDENBERGHE

Mrs. G. H. THUNE

Sir Basil HALL

Mr. F. MARTINEZ

Part I

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

4. The applicant is a Belgian citizen, born in 1961 and a

resident of Lanaken, Belgium.

5. The application concerns the trial before military courts of a

conscript who, for political and conscientious reasons, refuses to

perform either military or substituted civilian service.

6. The Court of Cassation (Hof van Cassatie) held on

22 February 1983, inter alia, that officers who hold a judicial

post are obliged to conduct themselves in an independent manner with

respect to the parties in the proceedings before them and vis-à-vis

all authorities. The Court considered that it did not appear that the

officer-members of the Military Court of Appeal had failed to respect

their obligation to independence and impartiality.

7. Before the Commission the applicant complained that military

courts cannot be considered as independent and impartial tribunals for

the trial of a civilian who, for political and conscientious reasons,

refuses to perform military or substituted civilian service. He

alleged that the military courts wrongly considered him to have

military status whereas he claims to have retained his civilian status

by informing the authorities of his conscientious objections.

8. The application was introduced on 17 June 1983 and registered

on 3 October 1983.

9. On 2 October 1984, the Commission decided to communicate the

application to the Government under Rule 42 (2) (b) of the

Commission's Rules of Procedure.

10. The Government's observations were submitted on 7 February

1985, the applicant's observations in reply on 4 April 1985.

11. On 10 October 1985, the Commission declared the application

admissible.

12. A hearing on the merits was held on 11 March 1986.

Part II

SOLUTION REACHED

13. Following its decision on the admissibility of the

application, the Commission placed itself at the disposal of the

parties with a view to securing a friendly settlement in accordance

with Article 28 (b) of the Convention and invited the parties to

submit any proposals they wished to make.

14. In accordance with its usual practice the Commission

instructed its Secretary to contact the parties for this purpose.

Following an exchange of correspondence channelled through the

Secretary of the Commission the Agent of the Government, by letter of

30 March 1987, made the following declaration:

"... j'ai l'honneur de porter à votre connaissance

les modalités concrètes soumises par le Gouvernement

en vue de parvenir à un règlement amiable dans

l'affaire NYSSEN.

1° M. NYSSEN ayant déjà subi 306 jours de détention les

deux mois d'emprisonnement qu'il lui restait à subir

avant de pouvoir être libéré comme les insoumis se trouvant

dans son cas seraient remplacés par un service de même

durée (deux mois) à effectuer à temps plein dans l'un des

organismes ou services repris à l'article 21 des lois

coordonnées du 20 février 1980 portant le statut des

objecteurs de conscience, étant entendu qu'il aurait Ã

rechercher lui-même l'organisme ou le service disposé Ã

l'employer pendant cette durée.

2° En cas d'accord avec cette proposition, M. NYSSEN

ferait parvenir à l'Auditeur général près la Cour

militaire, palais de Justice, place Poelaert Ã

1000-Bruxelles, un écrit par lequel il s'engagerait Ã

effectuer ce service dans le délai d'un an à dater de

l'arrêté de grâce qui serait alors proposé au Roi.

3° Dès réception de cet écrit, l'Auditeur général

introduirait une proposition d'arrêté de grâce sous

condition résolutoire tendant à l'octroi d'un sursis

de cinq ans pour l'emprisonnement restant à subir, la

condition étant de remplir l'engagement prévu au 2°

ci-dessus.

4° Suite à l'arrêté de grâce, M. NYSSEN serait désignalé

au B.C.S. et pourrait en conséquence rentrer librement en

Belgique. Il disposerait alors du délai d'un an pour faire

parvenir à l'Auditeur général une attestation émanant de

l'un des organismes visés au 1° et certifiant que le service

a bien été effectué à temps plein pendant deux mois.

5° A défaut de recevoir cette attestation dans le delai

prévu, l'Auditeur général prendrait les dispositions

nécessaires pour faire exécuter l'emprisonnement restant

à subir par M. NYSSEN.

Le Gouvernement rappelle enfin que M. NYSSEN, en

application des articles 621 et suivants du Code

d'instruction criminelle et à condition de respecter

les conditions prévues par ceux-ci, jouit de la

possibilité de solliciter sa réhabilitation dont l'octroi,

toutefois, relève de la seule décision des autorités

judiciaires."

(Translation)

"... I have the honour to inform you of the precise

proposals made by the Government with a view to securing

a friendly settlement in the Nyssen case.

1) As Mr. Nyssen has already spent 306 days in detention,

the two months of imprisonment which he still has to

undergo before he can be discharged like other

objectors in a comparable position, will be replaced by

full-time substituted civilian service of the same length

(two months). This substituted civilian service must be

performed in one of the organisations or services set out

in Article 21 of the co-ordinated laws of 20 February 1980,

containing the statute of conscientious objectors. It will

be understood that the applicant himself will have to find

an organisation or service which is prepared to accept him

for these months.

2) If Mr. Nyssen agrees with this proposition, he should

send a letter to the Auditeur General attached to the

Military Court, Palace of Justice, Place Poelaert,

1000-Brussels, undertaking to perform this service within

a period of one year from the date of the pardon, which

will thereupon be put to the King.

3) On receipt of the letter referred to above, the Auditeur

General will request a pardon which would grant the

applicant a suspension of five years of the remainder of

the term of imprisonment, such pardon being conditioned on

the fulfilment of the undertaking referred to at paragraph

2) above.

4) Following the act of pardon, Mr. Nyssen will be removed

from the list of the B.C.S. (Bulletin Central de

Signalement) and will consequently be able to return to

Belgium freely. He will have one year to send the Auditeur

General a declaration from one of the organisations referred

to at paragraph 1) above, certifying that the substituted

civilian service has actually been performed full-time for

two months.

5) If the Auditeur General does not receive this declaration

within the period agreed, he will take the necessary measures

to execute the remainder of the term of imprisonment to be

served by Mr. Nyssen.

The Government finally recalls that, pursuant to Article 621

et seq. of the Code of Criminal Instruction and on condition

that the above-mentioned conditions have been fulfilled,

Mr. Nyssen has the possibility to request his rehabilitation,

which depends, however, solely on a decision by the judicial

authorities.

..."

15. The applicant's representative, by letter of 14 May 1987,

submitted the following declaration on behalf of the applicant:

"With reference to Application No. 10574/83 pending

before the Commission of Human Rights and in view of

declaration made by the Belgian Government on

30 March 1987, I hereby accept, on behalf of Mr. K. Nyssen,

the offer contained in that declaration and declare the

Application No. 10574/83 to be settled.

My declaration is made in view of the settlement within

the meaning of Article 28 (b) of the European Convention

on Human Rights which has been reached in co-operation

with the European Commission of Human Rights in the

proceedings concerning this application."

16. On 8 July 1987 the Commission noted that the parties had

reached agreement regarding the terms of settlement. The Commission

found, having regard to Article 28 (b) of the Convention, that a

friendly settlement of the present application had been secured on the

basis of respect for Human Rights as defined in the Convention.

For these reasons, the Commission adopted this Report.

Secretary to the Commission President of the Commission

(H.C. KRÜGER) (C.A. NØRGAARD)

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NYSSEN v. BELGIUM

NYSSEN v. BELGIUM

LEXI