Communicated on 29 January 2020 Published on 17 February 2020

FIRST SECTION

Application no. 41295/19 Milan BALJAK and O thers against Croatia lodged on 29 July 2019

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The application concerns civil proceedings the applicants instituted against the State seeking damages related to the killing of their relative (son, brother and grandson). The applicants ’ relative was captured by Croatian soldiers in August 1995 and placed in a basement together with twenty-five other persons. The following day he and four other men were taken by Croatian soldiers to an unknown location and the applicants never heard from him again. Several years later his body was found in a mass grave, with a gunshot wound to his head. The domestic courts dismissed the applicants ’ civil claim finding that they had not proven that their relative had been killed by the Croatian soldiers, and, alternatively, that his killing had amounted to war damage for which the State was not liable. The applicants were also ordered to pay the costs of proceedings to the State in the amount of 69,800 Croatian kuna (about 9,300 euros). The Constitutional Court found that the domestic courts ’ conclusion was not arbitrary. Four Constitutional Court judges gave a dissenting opinion to that decision, submitting that, since the applicants ’ relative had been under the control of the State agents, it was the State which had been responsible for him, as well as for proving what had happened to him.

The applicants complain, under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, that the domestic courts ’ conclusion in the civil proceedings was arbitrary or manifestly unreasonable since their relative had undoubtedly been taken by Croatian soldiers, after which he was found in a mass grave with a gunshot wound to his head.

Relying on the same provision, they also complain that the civil courts ’ decision ordering them to pay to the State costs of proceedings violated their right of access to a court and imposed an excessive burden on their financial status.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Did the applicants have a fair hearing in the determination of their civil rights and obligations, in accordance with Article 6 § 1 of the Convention? In particular, was the conclusion of the domestic courts in the civil proceedings against the State arbitrary or manifestly unreasonable?

2. Has the allegedly excessive award of costs of proceedings to the State violated the applicants ’ right of access to a court guaranteed under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and/or their right to the peaceful enjoyment of possessions guaranteed by Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention (see Cindrić and Bešlić v. Croatia , no. 72152/13, 6 September 2016)?

APPENDIX

No.

Applicant ’ s Name

Nationality

Place of residence

1Milan BALJAK

Croatian

Petrovaradin

2Draginja BALJAK

Croatian

Petrovaradin

3Stana BALJAK

Croatian

Petrovaradin

4Dušanka TRIPUNOVIĆ

Croatian

Banja Luka