Information Note on the Court’s case-law 18

May 2000

Naletilić v. Croatia (dec.) - 51891/99

Decision 4.5.2000 [Section IV]

Article 6

Criminal proceedings

Article 6-1

Fair hearing

Surrender to the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia of person suspected of war crimes: inadmissible

The applicant, a Croatian citizen, is currently held in the penitentiary of the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Netherlands. He was arrested and held in custody in Croatia on suspicion of kidnapping, murder and participation in a group having committed a crime. He was subsequently indicted by the ICTY on seventeen counts, includin g crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and violations of the laws and customs of war. The applicant was handed over to the ICTY by order of the domestic courts.

Inadmissible under Article 6 § 1: Exceptionally, an issue may be r aised under this provision following an extradition decision in circumstances where the applicant is exposed to the risk of being denied a fair trial. However, in the circumstances of this case, the act at issue was not an extradition act, but surrender to an international court which, considering its Statute and Rules of Procedure, offers all the necessary guarantees, including those of impartiality and independence: manifestly ill-founded.

Inadmissible under Article 7: Even assuming that Article 7 applied to the present case, it would have done so under its second paragraph and not its first. Therefore the applicant could not invoke the second sentence of Article 7 § 1: manifestly ill-founded.

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

Click here for the Case-Law Information Notes