Information Note on the Court’s case-law 10

September 1999

Bosio and Moretti v. Italy - 36608/97

Judgment 6.9.1999 [Section II]

Article 6

Civil proceedings

Article 6-1

Reasonable time

Length of civil proceedings: violation

The case concerns the length of civil proceedings brought against the applicants in April 1986. In April 1998 the parties reached a settlement which brought the proceedings to an end.

Law : The Court recalled that it had found in four judgments of 28 July 1999 that there existed in Italy a practice contrary to the Convention, resulting from an accumulation of breaches of the "reasonable time" requirement. It concluded that the length of the p roceedings in this case (over 12 years) did not comply with that requirement and constituted a further example of the aforementioned practice.

Conclusion : violation (unanimous).

Article 41: The Court awarded each of the applicants 25 million lire (ITL) for non-pecuniary damage. It also awarded the two applicants 8 million lire for costs and expenses.

© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.

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