FIRST SECTION

Application no. 45593/13 Čedo JOVIĆ against Croatia lodged on 8 July 2013

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant, Mr Čedo Jović , is a Serbian national, who was born in 1963 and lives in Belgrade . He is represented before the Court by Mr T. Filaković , a lawyer practising in Osijek .

The circumstances of the case

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

On 7 July 2008 the applicant was arrested and detained on suspicion of having committed war crimes.

His detention was extended several times during the proceedings under Article 102 § 1(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (risk of absconding).

On 15 March 2011 the Osijek County Court ( Ž upanijski sud u Osijeku ) found the applicant guilty on charges of war crimes and sentenced him to five years ’ imprisonment.

The applicant appealed and on 22 February 2012 the Supreme Court ( Vrhovni sud Republike Hrvatske ) quashed the first-instance judgment and remitted the case to the Osijek County Court.

On 2 April 2012 the Supreme Court extended the maximum period of the applicant ’ s pre-trial detention for a further year.

On 18 April 2012 the applicant lodged a constitutional complaint with the Constitutional Court ( Ustavni sud Republike Hrvatske ) challenging the lawfulness of and grounds for his continued pre-trial detention.

On 1 June 2012 the Osijek County Court found the applicant guilty on charges of war crimes and sentenced him to five years ’ imprisonment.

On the same date the Osijek County Court extended the applicant ’ s detention.

On 14 January 2013 the Constitutional Court declared the applicant ’ s constitutional complaint inadmissible on the grounds that a new decision on his detention had been adopted in the meantime on 1 June 2012.

COMPLAINTS

The applicant complains, relying upon Article 5 of the Convention, that he was not able to obtain effective judicial review of the lawfulness of his pre-trial detention by the Constitutional Court.

He also cites Articles 6 §§ 1 and 2 and 13 of the Convention.

QUESTION TO THE PARTIES

Was the procedure by which the applicant sought to challenge the lawfulness of his pre-trial detention before the Constitutional Court in conformity with Article 5 § 4 of the Convention?

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