Communicated on 16 February 2015

FIRST SECTION

Application no. 18532/12 Darko LEÅ TEK against Croatia lodged on 24 February 2012

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant, Mr Darko Leštek , is a Croatian national, who was born in 1962 and lives in Zagreb . He is represented before the Court by Ms K. Abramović , a lawyer practising in Zagreb .

The circumstances of the case

The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.

On 23 November 2005 the Zagreb Minor Offences Court ( Prekr š ajni sud u Zagrebu ) found the applicant guilty on charges of minor offence of family violence for having verbally abused and assaulted his wife on 14 November 2005 in their house in front of their child. The applicant was sentenced to thirty days ’ imprisonment and ordered not to approach his wife in the period of four months.

On 24 July 2006 the applicant was indicted in the Zagreb Municipal Criminal Court ( Op ć inski kazneni sud u Zagrebu ) on charges of several acts of family violence including the event of 14 November 2005 when he verbally abused and assaulted his wife in their house in front of their child .

On 4 March 2009 the Zagreb Municipal Criminal Court found the applicant guilty as charged and sentenced him to ten months ’ imprisonment suspended for two years.

On 16 February 2011 the Zagreb County Court ( Ž upanijski sud u Zagrebu ) upheld the applicant ’ s conviction but lower his sentence to nine months ’ imprisonment suspended for two years.

The applicant then lodged a constitutional complaint before the Constitutional Court ( Ustavni sud Republike Hrvatske ) complaining, inter alia , that he was tried and sentence twice for the same offence.

On 21 September 2011 the Constitutional Court declared the applicant ’ s constitutional complaint inadmissible as manifestly ill-founded.

The decision of the Constitutional Court was served on the applicant ’ s representative on 3 October 2011.

COMPLAINT

The applicant complains , under Article 4 of Protocol No. 7, that he was tried and convicted twice of the same offence .

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

Has the applicant been convicted twice for the same offence in the territory of the respondent State, as prohibited by Article 4 § 1 of Protocol No. 7?

If so, did the proceedings fall within the exceptions envisaged by Article 4 § 2 of Protocol No. 7?

The Government are requested to submit two copies of the relevant documents concerning the applicant ’ s case.