FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 22945/15 Z.T. against Hungary

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 1 October 2019 as a Committee composed of:

Branko Lubarda , President, Carlo Ranzoni , Péter Paczolay , judges, and Andrea Tamietti, Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 28 April 2015,

Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicant,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

1. The applicant, Ms Z.T., is a Hung arian national, who was born in 1963 and lives in Székesfehérvár . The President granted the applicant ’ s request for her identity not to be disclosed to the public (Rule 47 § 4). She was represented before the Court by Mr A. Cech , a lawyer practising in Budapest.

2. The Hungarian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr Z. Tallódi , Ministry of Justice.

3. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.

4. On 18 July 2014 the Disciplinary Court for Public Notaries (attached to the Pécs High Court) reprimanded the applicant, a public notary, for a disciplinary offence and fined her 1,500,000 Hungarian forints (approximately 4,500 euros).

5. On appeal, on 17 November 2014 the Disciplinary Court for Public Notaries (attached to the Kúria ) upheld this decision.

6 . According to the information provided by the applicant ’ s lawyer on 10 September 2019, on that date the applicant ’ s constitutional complaint against the Kúria ’ s decision was still pending.

7 . The Fundamental Law, in force as of 1 January 2012, provides as follows:

Article XXVIII

“(1) Everyone shall have the right to have any charge against him or her, or his or her rights and obligations in any litigation, adjudicated within a reasonable time in a fair and public trial by an independent and impartial court established by an Act.

...”

COMPLAINT

8. The applicant complained that the bodies conducting the procedure against her had fallen short of the requirement of a “tribunal established by law” contained in Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.

THE LAW

9. The applicant complained that her case had not been examined by a “tribunal established by law”, in breach of Article 6 § 1, which provides as relevant:

“1. In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a ... hearing ... by [a] ... tribunal established by law...”

10. The Government submitted that the application was premature since the constitutional complaint, an effective remedy, was still pending. The applicant disagreed, arguing in essence that the constitutional complaint was not an effective remedy.

11. The Court has already held that a constitutional complaint under section 26(1) and/or section 27 of the Constitutional Court Act is an effective remedy normally to be exhausted f or the purposes of Article 35 § 1 of the Convention in situations where the application concerns Convention rights equally protected by the Fundamental Law of Hungary (see Szalontay v. Hungary ( dec. ), no. 71327/13, §§ 29-41, 12 March 2019).

12. The present case concerns the applicant ’ s allegation that she was convicted in disciplinary proceedings by bodies not qualifying as “tribunal established by law”. This amounts to an alleged breach of her right to a fair trial, which is enshrined in Article 6 § 1 the Convention and Article XXVIII of the Fundamental Law (see paragraph 7 above). It follows that the constitutional complaint is an effective remedy to exhaust in the circumstances.

13. Since the applicant ’ s constitutional complaint was still pending on 10 September 2019 (see paragraph 6 above), the application is premature, and must be rejected for non ‑ exhaustion of domestic remedies, according to Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Declares the application inadmissible.

Done in English and notified in writing on 24 October 2019 .

Andrea Tamietti Branko Lubarda Deputy Registrar President