Information Note on the Court’s case-law 63

April 2004

Moreira Barbosa v. Portugal (dec.) - 65681/01

Decision 29.4.2004 [Section III]

Article 35

Article 35-1

Exhaustion of domestic remedies

Exhaustion of one several effective domestic remedies for the same complaint: preliminary objection dismissed

The applicant had lodged a criminal complaint and an application for damages in 1996 in connection with the drawin g of a bad cheque. Four years later he applied for an order to expedite the proceedings. The Supreme Council of the Judiciary dismissed the application. The criminal trial ended in December 2000. The applicant applied for enforcement proceedings. He compla ined of the length of proceedings, which were still pending in April 2004.

Admissible under Article 6 § 1: Having used a domestic remedy which is considered effective within the meaning of Article 35 § 1 (application for an order to expedite the criminal p roceedings), the applicant was not also obliged to bring a second appeal, considered equally effective, in order to complain of the excessive length of a set of Portuguese judicial proceedings (an action concerning the State’s non-contractual liability). W here a remedy to be exhausted under Article 35 § 1 had been used, it was not necessary to use a second remedy, also considered as a remedy to be exhausted and in which the objective was practically the same. The objection that domestic remedies had not bee n exhausted was dismissed.

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

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