Communicated on 7 February 2018

FIRST SECTION

Application no. 41071/16 Vesna ODORAN against Croatia lodged on 11 July 2016

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The application concerns lack of access to a court in civil labour proceedings in which the applicant challenged a decision on her dismissal from work. The domestic courts declared her claim inadmissible as being lodged out of time. In particular, they held that the time-limit started to run on the day she had sent her application for the protection of her allegedly violated rights by registered mail to her employer and not from the date the employer had been served with it. The applicable rules of the Labour Act prescribe that the statutory time-limit starts from the date the employer had been served with an application. On 16 November 2015 the Plenary of the Civil Division of the Supreme Court adopted a legal opinion (no. Su ‑ IV ‑ 9/15-15), instructing lower courts to calculate the deadline at issue from the date the employer had been served with an employee ’ s application for the protection of his or her rights.

QUESTIONS tO THE PARTIES

Did the applicant have access to a court in respect of her civil action challenging the decision on her dismissal from work, as required under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention? In particular, did the manner in which the national courts applied the relevant provisions of the Labour Act, as regards the procedural requirements for bringing a claim before a court, foreseeable for the applicant, given the wording of section 133(2) of the Labour Act and the practice of the national courts?